Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open with a 6-3 6-3 victory over Moyuka Uchijima on Tuesday.

Having had a bye through the first round, the world number one initially showed some signs of rust as Uchijima broke her serve at the end of a tough opening game.

The Japanese qualifier then held serve to establish a 2-0 lead, but that was as good as it got for her as Sabalenka was shaken into action.

Sabalenka reeled off two love holds and two breaks in the next four games to build an advantage she would not give up, converting her first set point with a lovely serve and volley combination. 

The start of the second set was also far from routine, with the first five games all resulting in breaks, but three of those went Sabalenka's way to put her out in front.

And when the top seed finally got the first hold of the set, having been taken to deuce in game six, there was no denying her.

She needed two match points to get over the line, but a downward smash following a high-octane exchange at the net did the trick.

Sabalenka will face Zhang Shuai in the next phase, after Jelena Ostapenko was forced to retire while 6-0 4-0 down to her in the second round.

She will be joined in the round of 32 by Amanda Anisimova following Lanlana Tararudee's withdrawal. The eighth seed will take on Nikola Bartunkova next, after she defeated Clara Tauson 6-3 6-4.

Back winning in the SIX! @SabalenkaA is into the next round after defeating Uchijima in straight sets 6-3, 6-3.#NBO26 pic.twitter.com/jU1od1JHAc

— wta (@WTA) August 5, 2026

Sabalenka's hard-court streak continues

Sabalenka's victory was her 13th in a row on hard courts, having won six matches each at Indian Wells and Miami to claim the Sunshine Double earlier this year.

Overall this season, she holds a 24-1 record on the surface, with her only such defeat coming against Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open final.

She is the first player since Serena Williams, in 2015, to win as many as 24 of her first 25 WTA-level hard-court matches in a season. 

Sabalenka, who has never won the Canadian Open, also maintained her three-year unbeaten streak against qualifiers or lucky losers, going 22-0 in such matches since 2022, when she lost to Donna Vekic in San Diego.