Sabalenka has the look of a champion, cruises into fourth round

Aryna Sabalenka has reached the highest heights you can achieve in tennis, four grand slam wins, world No. 1, but one box that remains empty on your checklist is BNP Paribas Open champion.

She’s made the final twice, including last year, but has yet to break through. Her early play this year, perhaps buoyed by getting engaged Tuesday night, has the high quality of a champion.

She easily dispatched Jaqueline Cristian of Romania 6-4, 6-1 to comfortably move into the fourth round where she will face either Naomi Osaka or Camila Osorio on Tuesday.

“So many things I felt like I did great today. Serving well, happy with the way I stayed focused no matter what. Happy with the win,” she said succinctly.

Other results

Talia Gibson def. (17) Clara Tauson 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-4: The longest shot still going in the women’s field is qualifier Talia Gibson of Australia. Gibson outlasted the No. 17 seed in a marathon match. She already had knocked out No. 11 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the previous round. She awaits the winner of a third-round match between Ajla Tomljanovic and (7) Jasmine Paolini.

(14) Linda Noskova def. Sorana Cirstea 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4: As the No. 14 Linda Noskova should be in the Sweet 16 and kudos to he, she is. She needed to put in extra work to Cirstea, but survive and advance is always the right plan in March. She will next face the winner of Sunday night’s much-anticipated match between Coco Gauff and Alexandra Eala.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Sabalenka has the look of a champion, cruises into fourth round