Rain halts Aryna Sabalenka's Berlin debut after dominant first set

Aryna Sabalenka's match against Rebeka Masarova at the Berlin Ladies Open has been suspended due to rain and will resume tomorrow. The World No. 1 was making her grass-swing debut but only managed to complete one set against the Swiss tennis player.

Sabalenka is playing her first tournament since her defeat in the Roland Garros final against Coco Gauff. She begins her grass-swing as the strong favorite to win the Wimbledon title in a couple of weeks, although her first challenge is in Berlin, where she aims to find her rhythm on the surface.

So far, the start was positive for the Belarusian, who was facing World No. 112 Rebeka Masarova, a qualifier. The tennis player – who recently changed her Spanish passport to Swiss – had previously defeated Greece's Maria Sakkari and then Italy's Ella Seidel in the qualifying rounds. In her main draw debut, she surprisingly eliminated former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin.

After three consecutive victories on grass courts, she faced the bigger challenge of taking on the World No. 1. It was a first set that quickly leaned in favor of the Belarusian, as she secured an early break on her first opportunity and then, in a hard-fought service game, extended her lead to 2-0.

Masarova had some break chances in the set but could never convert them. She was serving at 2-5, 0-40, and managed to save several set points, but finally, the three-time Grand Slam champion took the set 6-2 after 40 minutes of play.

Once the set concluded, the rains intensified and prevented further play. The players waited for a few minutes for a decision to be made, and finally, the umpire decided to suspend the match until this Thursday, when the first-round encounter will be completed. The winner will face the victor between Katerina Siniakova and Elena Rybakina – who will also play their match tomorrow.