By Shrivathsa Sridhar
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka shrugged off a shaky display to fight her way into the fourth round of the Australian Open with a 7-6(5) 6-4 victory over Clara Tauson on Friday.
Novak Djokovic resumes his quest for a record 25th Grand Slam title and 11th at Melbourne Park later in the day and Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev and Coco Gauff will also be in action on the main showcourts.
The day’s first match on the Rod Laver Arena at the start of the sixth day of the championships was hardly vintage tennis, but Sabalenka was pleased to come away unscathed after a little over two hours in bright sunshine and challenging conditions.
“She played some unbelievable tennis,” Sabalenka said.
“I’m super happy that I was able to close out this match and be in the fourth round.”
Sabalenka has been far from her devastating best in the first two rounds and against Tauson she dropped serve four times in a wobbly opening set, but her opponent was equally profligate as both players struggled with the sun and breeze.
“Conditions are really tough for serving, the balls are heavy and the surface slow so with the breaks,” said Sabalenka, who conceded four breaks in the opening set of a match for the first time since San Diego in 2022.
“I was just thinking, just keep pushing through.”
The first hold in the eighth game was greeted with a big round of applause as world number 42 Tauson surged to a 5-3 lead, but Sabalenka roared back like a tiger, the animal that has become her totem.
The top seed stabilised her own delivery and then drew level at 5-5 before Tauson recovered to save four set points and force a tiebreak, where she matched the big-hitting Belarusian punch for punch in the first 10 points.
Sabalenka shifted up a gear, however, and earned a set point with a stinging backhand winner before closing it out with a big forehand to leave Auckland champion Tauson a tad deflated after 63 minutes of toil.
The Dane gifted her opponent a break early in the second set but continued to carve out chances and made it to 4-4, only to fade away after a marathon game that had seven deuces as the momentum shifted one last time.
Sabalenka completed the win on serve to keep alive her bid to become the first woman to capture three successive titles at Melbourne Park since Martina Hingis from 1997-99. Up next is a clash with Magdalena Frech or Mirra Andreeva.
Earlier, 27th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova powered past German veteran Laura Siegemund 6-1 6-2.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Melbourne; Editing by Kim Coghill and Neil Fullick)
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