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The lower half of the women’s draw at the Australian Open is proving to be a bit of a breeze for defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, who double-bagelled Lesia Tsurenko in the opening match on Rod Laver Arena on Friday, while 4th-seeded Coco Gauff also sailed into the Last 32 with the loss of just 2 games to Alycia Parks, and 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva saved a match point when 1-5 down in the final set of her win over Diane Perry.
Last year, Iga [Swiatek] won so many sets 6-0, and this is one of the goals, to try to get closer to her. I’m just super-happy with the level I’m playing so far. Hopefully I can just keep going like that or even better. Aryna Sabalenka
There is a back story to the first duel, with the Belarusian World No 2 facing Ukraine’s outspoken No 3, and there was no handshake following the breadstick 6-0 6-0 win after just 52 minutes of play, standard practice since the start of the war nearly two years ago, although the pair did both put their hands up to acknowledge each other.
Asked why she maintains this position, Tsurenko said: “This is very tough to explain, you just have to feel what I feel, and you will not have these questions for me. I feel like so many things that were so important for me are not important any more, like a tennis match. I don’t feel like I really care about how I finish the match, what is the score.
“I care more about the fact I can be here, and I can remind the world that the war is still on, I care about the fact that I can earn some money, and I can donate, and I can help other people.”
Last year in Melbourne there was a prominent fundraiser for Ukraine, but the war has slipped down the tennis agenda, as Tsurenko feels it has in society generally.
“People don’t want to talk about war, people don’t want to hear bad news,” she said. “I get a lot of bad messages on social media that people are kind of annoyed if I post something.
“It seems like the whole world is tired of hearing that but, unfortunately, it’s still going on, it’s a part of my life and part of other Ukrainians’ life, and we have to talk about it, we have to remind people about Ukraine.”
Sabalenka, who was criticised at the French Open last year for standing at the net waiting for a handshake she knew was not going to come from Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, said: “I respect everyone’s position. She was quite respectful. She said, ‘Great play’. She didn’t shake my hand, but she was respectful to me, so I appreciate that.”
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The No 2 seed has dropped just 6 games in her 3 matches so far, narrowly missing out on a double bagel in her opening round.
In the court-side interview Andrea Petkovic quipped that Sabalenka had been ‘sucking the life out’ of her opponents, leaving the champion only able to laugh.
“Last year, Iga [Swiatek] won so many sets 6-0, and this is one of the goals, to try to get closer to her,” Sabalenka joked. “I’m just super-happy with the level I’m playing so far. Hopefully I can just keep going like that or even better.”
Sabalenka only dropped one set en route to last year’s title, and her run this year is starting off in a similar fashion.
Friday was another commanding display by the Belarusian, who logged 8 weeks at World No 1 last year, and was in complete control throughout against Tsurenko, having split their two prior meetings.
She saved the lone break point she faced, while converting on 6 of her 10 break points, finishing the match with 16 winners to Tsurenko’s 7, while Sabalenka also made 6 fewer unforced errors than her opponent.
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Sabalenka will play Amanda Anisimova, the 22-year old American, who continued her come-back after taking 7 months out of the game last year for mental health reasons with a 7-5 6-4 win over former World No 2 Paula Badosa from Spain.
“It’s quite unbelievable,” said Ansimova, who struck 40 winners on her way to the win in an hour 28 minutes on John Cain Arena. “For sure taking a step away from the game… gave me a new perspective. I’m trying to be in the present. I think in the past I was getting too caught up in the past and the future.”
Anisimova got past Badosa, another player on the come-back trail, despite battling stomach cramps.
The former World No 21 came back from 1-4 down in the first set, then prevailed in a gruelling 8-deuce game at 6-5, in which she saved one break point before finally converting her 7th set point of the game.
From there, Anisimova needed only a single break in the second set to clinch victory.
Anisimova is into the second week of the Australian Open for the third time, having also reached the Round of 16 in 2019 and 2022, while the American’s best Grand Slam performance is a semi-final showing at 2019 Roland Garros.
“I’m really proud of myself,” added Anisimova, who first made the 4th-round here 5 years ago as a 17-year-old. “I wasn’t sure should I expect to do well because a lot of people were telling me, ‘Don’t put too much expectations on yourself’.
“I’m just really happy that I was able to get this far, but I still think that I can do more.”
Sabalenka says she is expecting a tough match against Anisimova, who has won 4 of their 5 matches.
“First of all, I’m happy that [Anisimova is] back on tour,” Sabalenka said after her win. “We had a lot of great matches against each other, always tough battles.
“First week is past. Now it’s time to focus to the next week. I’m not expecting, like, easy matches, because when you’re getting to last stages of the tournaments, it’s not going to be easy at all. I’m just trying [to] prepare myself as good as I can, and make sure I bring my best level and I compete in the high level.”
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Later, in the afternoon, Gauff brushed past Parks, her fellow American, into the 4th-round, 6-0 6-2, producing a near flawless display on Margaret Court Arena in 61 minutes.
The 19-year old made just 8 unforced errors to the 34 of her less experienced opponent, and lost only 2 games on her way to the straight-sets win.
“I’m really happy with how I played,” Gauff said. “The score says different. She’s a tough player. She hits the ball big. I’ve known her since I was like eight years old. Our first time ever playing juniors or pros. Hopefully we can have many more matches in the future.”
Parks is a big-serving 23-year-old, who was over-matched from the get-go as Gauff picked her apart on return, rolling through the first 6 games before her opponent was able to get on the board.
Aiming to pressure Gauff in the second set, a double-fault and a pair of loose forehands from Parks handed the initiative back to the 19-year-old, who consolidated the break with an ace and soon found herself within 4 points of the 4th-round.
Although she saved a match point with a fearsome backhand down the line, a missed return from Parks sent Gauff over the finish line in just over the hour.
The reigning US Open champion has now won her last 10 Grand Slam main draw matches, and improves 8-0 in 2024 after winning her second bagel set of the tournament.
Standing between Gauff and a first trip to the Last 8 here in Melbourne is Magdalena Frech, after the Pole eventually found her way past Russian qualifier Anastasia Zakharova, 4-6 7-5 6-4, in 2 hours and 50 minutes.
Despite the shock upsets over the first week, the top-ranked women in the bottom half have been on cruise control through their first 3 matches.
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Meanwhile, Russian 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva, who upset Ons Jabeur in the previous round, recovered from a 1-5 deficit in the 3rd set, and saved a match point to seal her 1-6 6-1 7-6[5] win over France’s Diane Parry and enter the 4th-round of the Australian Open on her senior debut.
Parry’s game was at its most fluid in a half-hour opening set, in which the combination of her heavy forehand at the baseline, comfort at the net, and overall all-court prowess left Andreeva befuddled.
The French former junior World No 1 broke serve twice, and saved all 4 break points she faced, all coming in the 7th game as she sought to serve out the set, and, in her 3rd Grand Slam 3rd-round appearance was one set away from her first 4th-round.
In set two, Andreeva returned the favour by winning the last 5 games, and 18 of the last 22 points.
In the decider, Andreeva produced a mammoth 3rd-round escape, beating the 21-year old Frenchwoman for the second time in their professional careers, after a thrilling 3rd set, in which Parry not only served for the win twice, but held a match point on the teenager’s serve at 5-2, 30-40, before the Russian won 5 games on the trot.
She then failed to serve out the match herself, and they found themselves in the 10-point match tiebreak, in which Andreeva dominated almost from the first ball.
Three straight points after dropping the first, and 4 more in a row from 3-2, gave the reigning WTA Newcomer of the Year the breathing room she needed to eventually close out the match on her 2nd match point in 2 hours and 23 minutes.
For a spot in her first Grand Slam quarter-final, Andreeva will face the winner of Friday night’s match between No 9 seed and 2021 Roland Garros champion Barbora Krejcikova, whom she beat twice last year, and Australian qualifier Storm Hunter.
In another early Day 6 result, Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk continued her march through the draw with a 2-6 6-4 6-4 win over Elina Avanesyan from Russia.
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