Without a single double-fault, Aryna Sabalenka has served up her largest warning but to her Australian Open rivals.
The world No.5 continued her flawless begin to the summer time to roar into the third spherical at Melbourne Park with a 6-1 6-3 trouncing of harmful American Shelby Rogers on Thursday.
The big-hitting Rogers, a former grand slam conqueror of Ash Barty, threatened a boilover early when she raced to a 3-1 lead on Rod Laver Arena.
But Sabalenka reeled off 5 straight video games to grab the second set earlier than operating away with the match in a single hour, 27 minutes.
Significantly, in addition to showcasing the firepower that helped the Belarusian to final yr’s season-ending championship closing in Texas and to this month’s Adelaide International title, there have been no indicators of the serving yips which have undermined Sabalenka’s progress on the massive levels.
Much extra tellingly than the three aces Sabalenka fired down and the lack of just one service recreation was the 25-year-old’s effort in not coughing up a solitary double-faults.
The self-confessed “double-fault queen” racked up some 428 final yr alone, simply essentially the most on the WTA Tour, together with 19 in her corresponding second-round win in Melbourne 12 months in the past.
So to say the fifth seed was over the moon with the advance in what was arguably girls’s tennis’s best Achilles heel could be an understatement.
“Oh, my God, I did almost everything to try to fix my serve. Like, the whole year we were trying different things mentally, mental stuff, technique, technical, trying to breathe differently,” Sabalenka mentioned.
“I mean, I tried a lot. I was watching a lot of videos of my serve.
“You cannot even think about how a lot I labored. I’m simply tremendous completely happy proper now that all the pieces is working.”
Yet to drop a set in six matches in 2023, the Open title chaser will play Belgian Elise Mertens next on Saturday for a place in the last 16 after the 26th seed ousted Hobart International winner Lauren Davis 6-4 6-3.
Russian 19th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova also progressed with a 1-6 6-2 6-3 win over American wildcard Taylor Townsend.
But Alexandrova’s ninth-seeded compatriot Veronika Kudermetova crashed out, succumbing to American qualifier Katie Volynets 6-4 2-6 6-2.
World No.4 Caroline Garcia and 12th seed Belinda Bencic are among the other big names in action on day four.
Second seed Ons Jabeur performs Marketa Vondrousova on Thursday evening.
