TORONTO — Aryna Sabalenka beat Zhang Shuai in 1 hour and 16 minutes Thursday night, never in real danger but earning every point down the stretch.

Sabalenka faced a break point in the final game of the second set, then won the last three points to close it out in straight sets.

"That was definitely tricky. She played great," Sabalenka said in her on-court interview, adding that it was tough to face a break point when wanting to finish the match but that she was happy to stay focused and close it out.

The win improved Sabalenka's hard-court record this season to 25-1. Her only loss on the surface came in the Australian Open final. She is the fastest player to reach 25 hard-court wins in a single season since Serena Williams in 2016 and now holds a 5-1 record against Zhang at the WTA Tour level, with all five wins coming in straight sets.

The 76-minute match was a contrast in styles. Zhang finished with just one unforced error and eight winners. Sabalenka countered with 29 winners against 14 unforced errors — the aggressive tradeoff that defines her game.

Zhang landed 66 percent of her first serves to Sabalenka's 60 percent, but Sabalenka won 81 percent of her first-serve points to Zhang's 62 percent. Sabalenka converted two of her three break chances; Zhang went zero for two.

Sabalenka broke at 4-2 in the opening set with a forehand return winner, just before a 12-minute rain delay. Her second break came at 4-3 in the second set, again off a forehand winner. To seal the match, she fought off Zhang's final push with another forehand winner, then produced a volley to set up match point before closing it out.

Sabalenka faces No. 16 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the fourth round. She holds a 5-4 edge in that head-to-head, winning three of their last four meetings, including their most recent in Berlin in June.

Elsewhere in Toronto, Alexandra Eala defeated Caty McNally 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 to reach the Round of 16. Marta Kostyuk is set to face World No. 8 Iga Swiatek in the Round of 16 on Saturday, Aug. 8, with Kostyuk seeking her eighth top-10 win of the season.