Dhaka, Aug. 31 -- Reigning champion Sabalenka punched her ticket to the last 16 after seeing off Fernandez 6-3, 7-6 (7/2) in one hour 39 minutes on the Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Sabalenka's decisive second set victory was capped by her 18th consecutive tie-break win.The victory was also sweet revenge for Sabalenka, who suffered an upset defeat to then teenager Fernandez in the semi-finals of the 2021 US Open.

"I wanted this revenge badly," Sabalenka said afterwards. "It was a tough lesson for me back then. Since then, we never played again.

"I just wanted to prove to myself that the lesson was learned and that I developed as a player and I could get this win."

Sabalenka attributes her dominance of tie-breaks this season to a tougher me...