Without a single double-fault, Aryna Sabalenka has served up her biggest warning yet to her Australian Open rivals. The world No 5 continued her flawless start to the summer to roar into the third round at Melbourne Park with a 6-1, 6-3 trouncing of dangerous American Shelby Rogers on Thursday.
The big-hitting Rogers, a former grand slam conqueror of Ash Barty, threatened an upset early when she raced to a 3-1 lead on Rod Laver Arena. But Sabalenka reeled off five straight games to snatch the second set before running away with the match in one hour, 27 minutes.
Significantly, as well as showcasing the firepower that helped the Belarusian to last year’s season-ending championship final in Texas and to this month’s Adelaide International title, there were no signs of the serving yips that have undermined Sabalenka’s progress on the big stages.
Much more tellingly than the three aces Sabalenka fired down and the loss of only one service game was the 25-year-old’s effort in not coughing up a single double fault.
The self-confessed “double-fault queen” racked up some 428 last year alone, easily the most on the WTA Tour, including 19 in her corresponding second-round win in Melbourne 12 months ago.
So to say the fifth seed was over the moon with the improvement in what was arguably women’s tennis’s greatest Achilles heel would be an understatement.
“Oh, my God, I did almost everything to try to fix my serve. Like, the whole year we were trying different things mentally, mental stuff, technique, technical, trying to breathe differently,” Sabalenka said.
“I mean, I tried a lot. I was watching a lot of videos of my serve. You can’t even imagine how much I worked. I’m just super happy right now that everything is working.”
Yet to drop a set in six matches in 2023, the Open title chaser will play Belgian Elise Mertens next on Saturday for a place in the last 16 after the 26th seed ousted Hobart International winner Lauren Davis 6-4, 6-3.
Russian 19th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova also progressed with a 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over American wildcard Taylor Townsend. But Alexandrova’s ninth-seeded compatriot Veronika Kudermetova crashed out, succumbing to American qualifier Katie Volynets 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.
World No 4 Caroline Garcia and 12th seed Belinda Bencic are among the other big names in action on day four. Second seed Ons Jabeur plays Marketa Vondrousova on Thursday night.