Aryna Sabalenka booked her place in the round of 16 at the Canadian Open with a straight-sets win over Shuai Zhang.

The world number one needed just 80 minutes to secure a 6-3 6-4 victory and set up a last-16 tie with Ekaterina Alexandrova in Toronto.

Despite a nervy start from Sabalenka, who saved a break point in the opening game, she broke Zhang's serve to love in the sixth game before serving out the first set.

And the second panned out in similar fashion as Sabalenka made a crucial breakthrough in the seventh game, though she almost made life difficult for herself while serving for the match.

The 28-year-old faced a break point in the 10th game of the second set, but held her nerve to deny Zhang and clinch victory with her first match point.

"That was definitely tricky. She played great," Sabalenka said in her on-court interview.

"It was tough to face when you want to finish the match and go rest. And you know there was the break point.

"Of course, that's definitely not easy, and I'm happy that I managed to stay focused and managed to close this match in straight sets."

25 - Aryna Sabalenka is 25-1 on hard court at WTA level in 2026, with her sole defeat on the surface coming in this year’s AO final – Sabalenka is the fastest player to 25 seasonal wins on the surface since Serena Williams (2016). Comfy.#NBO26 | @NBOtoronto @WTA pic.twitter.com/AA6acBWjOv

— OptaAce (@OptaAce) August 7, 2026

Elina Svitolina faced little resistance as she reached the last 16 with a 6-1 6-1 win over Anastasia Potapova in just 61 minutes.

The Ukrainian will face Amanda Anisimova in the next round, after the latter came from behind to defeat Nikola Bartunkova 3-6 6-0 6-4.

Sabalenka too dominant on hard court

Sabalenka is now 25-1 on hard court at WTA level in 2026, with her sole defeat on the surface coming in this year’s Australian Open final against Elena Rybakina.

The Belarusian is the fastest player to 25 seasonal wins on the surface since Serena Williams (2016).

Sabalenka has also reached a 44th career round of 16 at WTA-1000 events, equalling Karolina Pliskova (44) for the most of any currently active player.

Svitolina, meanwhile, now holds a 14-5 record against seeded opponents this season; only Jessica Pegula (18) and Sabalenka (16) have claimed more wins in 2026 versus such opponents.