Melbourne: Aryna Sabalenka will face Olympic champion Belinda Bencic for her first Australian Open quarterfinal after sounding an ominous warning to the field with her defeat of Elise Mertens on Saturday.
A near-flawless start and finish bookended the tight spot she managed to scrap herself out of early in the second set against her former Australian Open-winning doubles partner, 6-2 6-3.
Tired of missing at crucial moments on the biggest matches, Sabalenka had worked hard on adding more margin for error to her explosive shots in the past year.
She cut a much calmer figure on court these days, not that the opening set gave her much cause for concern.
Showing off her variety, a touch volley secured a 5-2 lead and she managed a second break to take the set after 26 minutes.
Sabalenka’s 12 winners to just four unforced errors were a snapshot of a near perfect start before a fired-up Mertens finally wedged her foot in the door at 0-2 down in the second set.
The Belgian broke for the first time when her opponent sent an overhead flying wide and levelled after she finally ended a 12-minute, seven-deuce game on serve.
Her cries of “allez” made way for a bellow of “c’mon” and the Rod Laver Arena crowd egged her on for more, only for Sabalenka to close that door firmly shut at the 75-minute mark, AO reported.
After the departure of second seed Ons Jabeur, Sabalenka, fourth seed Caroline Garcia and 12th seed Bencic are the only top-16 seeds left in the bottom half.
One of them will depart in the fourth round when Sabalenka meets the Swiss Olympic champion, Bencic, for a place in her maiden Australian Open quarterfinal.
