Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the third round of the Italian Open after claiming a dominant 6-2 6-3 victory over world No 53, Barbora Krejcikova.

Her victory comes after the world No 1 called on players to boycott the Grand Slams if tournament bosses do not give players a bigger share of prize pot revenues.

She received the backing from Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner earlier on Thursday, with the latter claiming the majors should give players greater respect.

Krejcikova, a former world No 2, was making her long-awaited return, having been absent from the WTA Tour since February due to an injury to her left thigh.

But Sabalenka came out of the blocks flying, hitting 26 winners to wrap up the encounter in one hour and 24 minutes.

"I'm super happy to be through," Sabalenka said, before paying a nod to her opponent.

"She's a great player. We've had a lot of tough matches in the past.

"She's such a fighter. Happy to see her back. I'm happy with the level I played and to get this win."

It wasn't all plain sailing for the world No 1, who had to fight back after Krejcikova broke her in the first game of the opening set.

She hit back with a break of her own and followed that up with a second to take a commanding 4-2 lead in the set. Sabalenka took control from there, utilising some powerful ground strokes to claim back-to-back breaks and go 1-0 in the match.

From there, she kept her foot on the gas pedal into the second set, taking a 4-1 lead, before saving a break point at 5-2 to see out the match.

The victory means Sabalenka will advance to play world No 27, Sorana Cirstea, who beat Tatjana Maria 6-2 6-0 earlier on Thursday.

The world No 1 has never won the Italian Open, notably losing out to Iga Swiatek in the final in 2025.

More to follow…