Aryna Sabalenka beats Paula Badosa in straight sets, Coco Gauff cruises past Nadia Podoroska at Miami Open 2024

Aryna Sabalenka sealed her place in the Miami Open third round with a relatively comfortable 6-4 6-3 victory over Paula Badosa.

Sabalenka got the job done with little fuss in one hour and 24 minutes, and can now look forward to a third-round clash against Anhelina Kalinina.

Badosa fought admirably in the opening set and was showing impressive strength on her own serve to bat away two break points from Sabalenka to move 3-2 in front.

The Spaniard was eventually broken as the Belarusian took a 4-3 lead, but claimed a superb hold at 4-5 down to withstand two Sabalenka set points.

The reigning Australian champion eventually moved 1-0 ahead after her fourth set point, and was posed more than a few questions by the world No. 80.

The second and final set was slightly more straightforward, with Sabalenka taking an early break at 2-1 before curtailing the contest after a second match point.

Meanwhile, Coco Gauff eased her way into the Miami Open third round with a 6-1 6-2 victory over Nadia Podoroska.

The world No. 3 wrapped up the contest in one hour and 18 minutes, and will face either Arantxa Rus or Oceane Dodin next.

Gauff wasted little time to draw first blood in the match and took a one-set lead after a mere 33 minutes of play.

Podoroska rarely threatened Gauff on her serve and was broken twice to leave the reigning US Open champion in firm control.

The Argentine showed some resistance in the seventh game after swatting away two Gauff set points, and earned her first break point.

However, Gauff’s class told and she was halfway to victory after prevailing on her third set point in the closest game of the match up to that point.

Gauff signalled her intent at the start of the second set, breaking Podoroska immediately and following that up with a hard-fought hold to go 2-0 ahead.

Podorska looked more confident on her serve, but there was still time for another decisive Gauff break which left the 20-year-old serving for the match.

It is to Podorska’s credit that this eighth and final game was anything but a formality, with the world No. 78 incredibly managing to swat away four Gauff match points.

She eventually succumbed to the inevitable though as Gauff prevailed on the fifth to complete a largely dominant win.