Australian Open: By easily defeating Belinda Bencic to go to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, Aryna Sabalenka made a statement about her intentions there, while Magda Linette shocked fourth seed, Caroline Garcia.
Sabalenka defeated Swiss opponent Bencic 7-5, 6-2 to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time, where she will face Donna Vekic. Meanwhile, Poland’s Linette upset fourth seed Garcia 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 to advance to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, where she will face former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova.
Sabalenka won a title to start the season in Adelaide, and she hasn’t dropped a set thus far in 2023 as she attempts to capture her first major championship.
She has been pounding on the door for a while now, making back-to-back semi-final appearances at the US Open and the final four at Wimbledon in 2021, but she hasn’t yet advanced to a championship match.
Sabalenka struggled to place her serve on the court at the start of last season, but things now seem to be clicking, and she dominated 12th seed Bencic in a 7-5, 6-2 triumph, hitting 32 aces and only 18 unforced errors.
Sabalenka now views the decision to consult a biomechanical specialist as a blessing in disguise because it was the key to resolving her serving problems.
She exclaimed, “I’m very glad that this incident involving my serve occurred to me.”
“I wasn’t particularly open to that before. You know what, my serve is fine; I don’t want to change anything, I would say. Actually, my serve wasn’t exactly correct even when it was operating.
“I was ready for anything at that particular time. Merely pleaded for assistance in repairing this serve.
“I want to think that the way I’m training and playing right now on the court is the fresh beginning and the next move. I therefore sincerely hope that it will be of great use to me.”
Sabalenka will be a strong favourite to advance from the bottom half of the draw at Melbourne Park this year since the playing conditions are plainly in their favour and because Garcia, the fourth seed, was eliminated in another upset.
The match against unseeded Croatian Vekic, who defeated 17-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova with a score of 6-2 1-6 6-3, is up next for fifth seed Sabalenka.
Pliskova has advanced through the draw mostly unnoticed, defeating Zhang Shuai 6-0, 6-4 to go to the round of eight.
After suffering a hand injury here last year, the Czechoslovak missed her first Grand Slam event since the US Open in 2012.
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