"It's such a motivation to keep going to inspire the young generation. That was a very adorable moment."

Aryna Sabalenka

Aryna Sabalenka underlined her US Open title credentials with a dominant second-round win over Lucia Bronzetti that she said was inspired by a "mini-me" fan in the crowd.

Second seed Sabalenka, runner-up in New York last year, beat Italy's Bronzetti 6-3 6-1 in just 61 minutes.

Afterwards she headed straight over to meet a young fan who had come dressed as Sabalenka, complete with a temporary tiger tattoo on her left arm.

"I just looked up, and I saw on the big screen, like, mini me. It was so cute," Sabalenka said.

"It's such a motivation to keep going to inspire the young generation. That was a very adorable moment."

Two-time Australian Open champion Sabalenka was in control from the outset on a sweltering day in New York.

Bronzetti held her own early on, but ultimately the power of Sabalenka was too much for the world number 76.

The Australian Open champion snatched her only break opportunity of the first set to go up 4-2 and calmly saw it out from there.

She promptly broke twice early in the second set and again to secure victory, finishing the match with an impressive 24 winners.

"I told myself that I had to stay focused from the first point to the last one, and make sure you're not going to spend a crazy amount of hours [playing] so you're ready for the next one," she said.

"It's tough conditions to play in but I'm happy I was able to manage the win in two sets."

Original article published 28.08.2024 on the BBC Sport website.

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