Sabalenka, Swiatek sweep in Spain

The winners of the last two editions of the Madrid Masters rolled over minimal opposition on Thursday to reach the third round with quick-fire victories.

Holder Aryna Sabalenka ran her current win streak to 13 straight matches with a 7-5, 6-3 defeat of Payton Stearns, earning her seventh straight victory in Madrid.

The world No. 1 has claimed three titles here from four finals and is riding a wave of confidence after lifting trophies in Indian Wells and Miami last month.

“I’m just glad that I got the win. Maybe not that beautiful, but I feel like by the end of the match I felt much better on court,” Sabalenka said. “I really hope that in the next match I’ll bring better things.”

The winner now faces Romanian 29th seed Jaqueline Cristian.

“Today was a fresh start for me. And it wasn’t that smooth and maybe the movement wasn’t that good.

“But I’m happy I got a win. And I’ll just do some extra stuff tomorrow. Make sure that in the next match I’ll be playing a little bit better,” said the four-time Grand Slam winner.

Iga Swiatek, the fourth seed and former WTA No. 1, advanced as she crushed Daria Snigur 6-2, 6-4 in a 61-minute first outing after hiring former Emma Raducanu mentor Francisco Roig as her new coach a few weeks ago.

Swiatek is bidding for a fifth career title on clay and comes to the Spanish capital after losing in a Stuttgart quarter-final last week to Mirra Andreeva.