Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka (26) cruised into the last 16 of the Rome Open on Sunday with a straight-sets victory over Dayana Yastremska (23), 6-4, 6-2.
Second seed Sabalenka claimed her first win in four matches against Ukrainian Yastremska to set up a clash in the next round with either Elina Svitolina, a two-time winner at the Foro Italico, or Anna Kalinskaya.
The Belarusian made short work of Yastremska, dispatching her opponent in just one hour and 28 minutes without dropping a service game and never looking in trouble.
The world number two, who has never won in Rome but is a two-time champion on the Madrid clay, looks in good shape to at least match her 2022 run to the semi-finals.
If she were to go two better, she'd claim her first clay-court title of the season after she narrowly lost a thrilling Madrid final to world number one and main rival Iga Swiatek (22).
