Aryna Sabalenka powered past Sloane Stephens to begin her quest for a third consecutive Australian Open crown yesterday with Zheng Qinwen and Casper Ruud also winning as storms caused havoc on day one of the Grand Slam.
Belarusian top seed Sabalenka had a first-set wobble, but was otherwise in control against 2017 US Open champion Stephens, romping home 6-3, 6-2 in 71 minutes at Rod Laver Arena.
Sabalenka is aiming to become the first woman since Martina Hingis to win three consecutive titles at Melbourne Park.
Photo: AFP
If she lifts the winner’s Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup again, she would join a select group of Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles and Hingis as the only women to complete a three-peat.
“Always tough matches against her,” Sabalenka said. “I didn’t play my best, probably, but I’m glad I was able to close the match in two sets.”
Men’s second seed Alexander Zverev rounds off the day one action later against the dangerous Lucas Pouille of France, who made the semi-finals in 2019 before losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.
Photo: AFP
Olympic champion Zheng, the fifth seed and last year’s losing finalist, had the honor of playing the first point on center court against Romania’s 110th-ranked Anca Todoni.
She came through 7-6 (7/3), 6-1, but was rusty after opting not to play a warm-up event.
Zheng had three set points on her own serve at 5-3 in the first set, but allowed Todoni to come roaring back before closing her down in the tiebreak then racing through the second set.
Photo: AFP
“The first match is always not easy,” Zheng said. “Just happy to get through the match, the tiebreak and find my rhythm.”
The 22-year-old enjoyed a breakthrough last year with her Australian Open exploits helping spur her to Olympic gold — beating Iga Swiatek on the way — and three Women’s Tennis Association titles.
While Zheng was able to play, the action on outside courts at Melbourne Park was halted barely an hour after it started due to heavy rain.
Norway’s Ruud said ahead of the event that playing better at Grand Slams was on his agenda this year after an underwhelming 2024 at the majors.
However, the sixth seed would need to lift his game to go deep in Melbourne after a roller-coaster 6-3, 1-6, 7-5, 2-6, 6-1 win over Spain’s Jaume Munar, ranked 106.
“It was just a really tough match,” he said.
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
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