What Sabalenka's 64-minute first-round Wimbledon win vs. Kostovic means

Author: Cole Bambini

2m read 29 Jun 2026 1mo ago

Jimmie48/WTA

WIMBLEDON -- Three-time Wimbledon semifinalist Aryna Sabalenka advanced smoothly into the second round.

On Monday, the World No. 1 handled qualifier Teodora Kostovic 6-2, 6-3 on Centre Court in 64 minutes. She will next face McCartney Kessler, who defeated Oleksandra Olinynkova 6-0, 6-0, in two days.

This was the first time Kostovic, ranked No. 184, played a World No. 1 in her career, and arguably, there's no better way to do so than a Grand Slam debut match on Centre Court at the All England Club. It was the match the 19-year-old always wanted. Kostovic didn't hesitate when asked after qualifying that the one player she wanted to face in the main draw was the four-time Grand Slam champion Sabalenka, questioning if Sabalenka could handle her power.

"It's good that she has that self-belief," Sabalenka said to press on Kostovic's remarks. "It's a good thing to have."

Sabalenka did take care of the task at hand of Kostovic's power with 22 winners, silencing her Serbian opponent to just 10 winners and 25 unforced errors. Sabalenka bolted out to a 4-0 lead in the first set, and while Kostovic won the fifth game to earn a large wave of applause from the SW19 crowd, the three-time Wimbledon semifinalist won the first set in just over a half hour.

Similarly, Sabalenka did lose her first match against a World No. 1. Simona Halep, then top-ranked on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz, handled Sabalenka 6-2, 6-2 in the Shenzhen Open quarterfinals to begin the 2018 season. Sabalenka was ranked No. 73 and also 19 years old at the time.

"I remember. That was a very tough experience," Sabalenka said on the match vs. Halep

"It's not easy when you play Centre Court against the World No. 1, things are not going your way. It's tough to handle. It's experience. Everyone's been there [and] everyone went through that. It's all about how you recover and what you take from that match.

Kostovic, known for her fiery personality on court, tried to bring the crowd into the match, evident in her hand gesture for more noise after she broke Sabalenka while she was serving for the match at 5-2 in the second set.

"She brought a really good fight, stepped in a little bit more in second set, pushed me a little bit more," Sabalenka said on-court. "I'm happy that I was able to close this match in straight sets."

Ultimately, it was Sabalenka who received the loudest and largest round of applause after thanking the crowd with her racquet with the match complete and a spot secured into the second round. Sabalenka won 83% of her first-service points, broke Kostovic's serve five times and had five aces.