Aryna Sabalenka wins at Miami Open after former partner’s death

World number two Aryna Sabalenka started her Miami Open campaign after an emotional week with an impressive win over her close friend Paula Badosa.

Two-time Australian Open champion Sabalenka, 25, played her second-round match four days after the death of her former partner Konstantin Koltsov.

Koltsov, an ex-ice hockey player, died in Miami aged 42 in what police described as an “apparent suicide”.

Sabalenka decided to play the event and won 6-4 6-3 against Spain’s Badosa.

The pair have described themselves as “best friends” on the WTA Tour, sharing a long and warm hug at the net after Belarusian Sabalenka secured victory to reach the last 32.

Wearing an all-black kit and a cap pulled down low, Sabalenka looked up to the sky before the pre-match coin toss.

On Wednesday, Sabalenka said her “heart is broken” after Koltsov’s death and described it as “an unthinkable tragedy”.

Her second-round meeting with Badosa was one of the first matches to be completed on Friday after heavy rain disrupted the schedule.

US Open champion Coco Gauff was another player able to secure victory, making light work of Argentine qualifier Nadia Podoroska in a 6-1 6-2 win.

With play not starting until after 17:00 local time in Florida, many matches were pushed back and are not likely to be finished as planned.

British former world number one Andy Murray was able to start his second-round match against Argentine 30th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry.

Cameron Norrie, who is Britain’s leading men’s player, must wait to see if he is able to start later against Italy’s Flavio Cobolli, as must British number two Jack Draper in his contest with Chilean 22nd seed Nicolas Jarry.