Aryna Sabalenka is on a mission at the 2024 Australian Open and notched her third-round victory in style after recording a first career 6-0, 6-0 win.
Sabalenka has been in electric form in week one at Melbourne Park and almost secured a perfect first-round win against Ella Seidel, which the Belarusian won 6-0, 6-1.
Another strong performance against Brenda Fruhvirtova followed in round two before Sabalenka thrashed Ukrainian opponent Lesia Tsurenko without dropping a game last time out.
It was the world number two's first-ever career double bagel as she appeared to go up a level in her performance. In addition, Sabalenka's perfect win was the first 6-0, 6-0 victory seen since 2021 at the Australian Open, when Ashleigh Barty cruised past Danka Kovinic in the first round.
"Right now, I'm not trying to be perfect. I'm trying to do my job as good as I can. I think today's performance was really, yeah, was perfection (smiling)."
Sabalenka has certainly set out her stall to defend her Australian Open title and win at Melbourne Park for a second consecutive season. However, the 25-year-old will face a stern test in her upcoming fourth-round clash against Amanda Anisimova, who has defeated Sabalenka four times in their five previous meetings.
But if Sabalenka can keep the momentum rolling and maintain her focus at the Australian Open, she will certainly be in a strong positive to notch just her second career Grand Slam title.
In addition, potential challenger Elena Rybakina crashed out in the second round against Anna Blinkova. World number one Iga Swiatek also showed some frailties early on at the Australian Open, as she had to go the distance in a second-round clash against Danielle Collins.
These will be encouraging signs for Sabalenka who has certainly been one of the standout players so far at Melbourne Park, and favourite to defend her trophy.
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