Double title holder in Melbourne, world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka qualified on Wednesday in two sets for the 3rd round of the Australian Open by dominating the Spaniard Jessica Bouzas Maneiro (54th), whom she faced for the first time .
On the Rod Laver Arena, the 26-year-old Belarusian won with a score of 6-3, 7-5, signing a sixteenth victory in a row on the main court of the first Grand Slam of the season.
She will face the Danish Clara Tauson (42nd) for a place in the round of 16, who has just won the WTA 250 tournament in Auckland and dismissed the German Tatjana Maria (90th) in the second round on Wednesday.
Sabalenka had a slow start on Wednesday, getting caught twice in the first set before accelerating to win the first set 6-3.
Trailing in the second set, the Belarusian lined up five games in a row to win the set (7-5) and her place in the 3rd round.
Winner of the WTA 500 in Brisbane at the start of January, Sabalenka scored a seventh victory in a row on Tuesday since the start of the season.
If she wins the title in Melbourne, the Belarusian would become the first player to win the Australian Open three years in a row since the Swiss Martina Hingis (1997-1999).
Finalist in 2024, Zheng Qinwen eliminated in the 2nd round
First shock elimination in the women’s draw: the Chinese Zheng Qinwen, finalist in Melbourne in 2024, lost on Wednesday in the 2nd round against the German Laura Siegemund.
Fifth player in the world, the 22-year-old Olympic champion was beaten 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 by her opponent (97th), who will face in the 3rd round the Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (32nd) or her compatriot Anastasia Potapova ( 36th).
“I had nothing to lose. I know I can play well and I just wanted to prove it to myself,” Siegemund exulted immediately after his victory.
“I tried to be extremely aggressive, not try any improbable shots and instead stick to my game plan,” she added.
Defeated after a 2h15 fight, Zheng Qinwen played the first tournament of her 2025 season in Melbourne. In 2024, the year in which she revealed herself, the Chinese was eliminated in the third round of Roland-Garros, in the first round of Wimbledon and in the quarter-finals at the US Open.
She came very close to victory at the WTA Finals in November, narrowly beaten by the American Coco Gauff after a battle of almost four hours.
At 36 years old, Laura Siegemund, for her part, sought the eleventh victory of her career on Wednesday against a player in the top 10. The German, who reached the quarter-finals of Roland-Garros in singles in 2020 and won the US Open doubles the same year, had never faced Zheng Qinwen before.
By reaching the 3rd round, as in 2016 and 2023, Siegemund equals his best performance at the Australian Open.
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