Sabalenka advances with difficulty into the round of 16 in Melbourne

Double title holder in Melbourne, world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka qualified in pain on Friday for the round of 16 of the Australian Open.

Too often fragile in her service games against the Dane Clara Tauson (42nd), the Belarusian won 7-6 (7/5) and 6-4 against the recent winner of the Auckland tournament, whom she faced for the first time.

Neither player managed to maintain her serve during the first seven games of the match. The first engagement was finally won in a tiebreaker by Sabalenka, who needed five set points to conclude.

In the second act, she broke away at 3-1, before being broken again by Tauson who recovered at 4-4. After a game of almost a quarter of an hour, Sabalenka once again managed to steal the balls from her opponent before winning the serve.

In the next round, the world’s leading racket will play against the Polish Magdalena Frech (26th) or the young Russian Mirra Andreeva, 15th in the world at 17 years old.

According to the WTA, Sabalenka must reach at least the semi-finals in Melbourne to hope to retain the lead in the world hierarchy, which is contested by the Polish Iga Swiatek (2nd).

If she wins the title, the queen of the women’s circuit would be the first player since Switzerland’s Martina Hingis (1997 to 1999) to win three years in a row at the Australian Open.