Sabalenka, Gauff, Rybakina advance in Stuttgart

Krejcikova, the 2021 French Open champion, has beaten Sabalenka only once in six career meetings.

Second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarterfinals at the Porsche Grand Prix by beating Barbora Krejcikova 6-2 6-3.

Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka returns the ball to Czech Republic's Barbora Krejcikova during the 2nd round of the WTA Stuttgart tennis match at the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart, Germany, Wednesday, April 19, 2023. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP) (AP)

The Australian Open champion has reached the final in Stuttgart for two straight years but has yet to win the clay-court tournament.

Krejcikova, the 2021 French Open champion, has beaten Sabalenka only once in six career meetings.

Coco Gauff, Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina and Ons Jabeur also recorded victories on Wednesday.

The fifth-seeded Gauff fought off a deciding-set comeback from Veronika Kudermetova to win 6-2 4-6 7-6 (3) and move into the second round.

Gauff's Russian opponent won four straight games to take the second set from 4-2 down and came back from 5-3 down in the decider to force a tiebreaker before Gauff finally secured the win. The 19-year-old American plays Anastasia Potapova next.

Gauff is playing her first tournament since splitting with coach Diego Moyano following the Miami Open.

Rybakina won five games in a row to seal a 7-5 6-3 win over Jule Niemeier after trailing 3-1 in the second set. She next plays Beatriz Haddad Maia.

Playing each other for the third time in four tournaments, Karolina Pliskova beat eighth-seeded Maria Sakkari 6-2 6-3 to set up a second-round meeting with Donna Vekic. Pliskova takes a 4-3 lead in career meetings with Sakkari, who eliminated the Czech player in the third round at Indian Wells last month before going on to reach the semifinals.