Aurélie Sacchelli, Media365, published on Friday January 17, 2025 at 10:40 a.m.
Double title holder at the Australian Open, Aryna Sabalenka had no difficulty reaching the round of 16 of the Australian Open. Coco Gauff, Mirra Andreeva and Paula Badosa also passed, while Jessica Pegula was eliminated and Naomi Osaka dropped out.
And 17 victories in a row for Aryna Sabalenka in Melbourne! Double title holder at the Australian Open, the world No. 1 will see the second week of the 2025 edition, after her victory 7-6, 6-4 in 2h07 against Clara Tauson (42nd), whom she faced for the first time. Once is not usual in the first rounds of Grand Slams, the Belarusian was pushed to her limits, but she ended up having the last word. It was in particular in the service that Sabalenka encountered difficulties, but his opponent was not having a great day in this area either. Thus, the first seven games of the match ended with breaks (4-3 for Tauson). The world No. 1 broke once again in the process to equalize at 5-5 and obtained four set points on her opponent's serve. But the Dane saved them. Everything came down to the deciding game, where Sabalenka used her experience to win 7-5, winning the last three points. The next round promises to be tough for the world No. 1, who will challenge Mirra Andreeva, already 15th in the world at 17 years old. The Russian needed three sets, but she eliminated Magdalena Frech 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 in 1h58. After winning the first set (two breaks), she missed the second (three breaks conceded), but won the last four games of the third to win this match and challenge Sabalenka, who has just beaten her 6- 3, 6-2 in the semis in Brisbane.
Bencic takes advantage of Osaka's abandonment and will challenge Gauff
In this same quarter of the table, the other match pitted Donna Vekic against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. The Croatian, 19th in the world, created a little surprise by eliminating Diana Schnaider, 13th, after a 3-hour fight won 7-6, 6-7, 7-5, in a match with eleven breaks. Vekic won the first tiebreak 7-4, then lost the second 7-3. In the third set, the Russian led 5-3 but then completely collapsed, losing the last four games. Her compatriot Pavlyuchenkova only lost three games against Laura Siegemund, but she still spent 1h33 on court before winning 6-1, 6-2, because most of the games were long. World No. 11 Paula Badosa will also see week two, following her 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Marta Kostyuk in a nine-break match. The Spaniard will face Serbian Olga Danilovic, who created a sensation by knocking out world No. 6 Jessica Pegula. She won 7-6, 6-1 in 1h31, saving the six break points that the American obtained. In a match between young mothers, Belinda Bencic (294th) won the tie-break of the first set 7-3 against Naomi Osaka (51st) before seeing the Japanese, hit in the shoulder, give up. The Swiss will have the formidable honor of challenging world No. 3 Coco Gauff, who did not tremble against Leylah Fernandez, beaten 6-4, 6-2 in 1h16. The American broke at 3-3 in the first set, then led 3-0 in the second before losing one of her breaks in advance, and finally breaking again at 3-1 to win.
