Aryna Sabalenka was on fire on Thursday night EST at the Rod Laver Arena, winning 6-0, 6-0 against Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko to advance to the Round of 16 at the Australian Open 2024. Sabalenka, the defending champion in Melbourne, showed no mercy to her opponent, finishing the match in just 52 minutes. However, the World No.2 refused to shake hands with Tsurenko after the match, which was an unfortunate end to it.
Describe this @SabalenkaA performance in 1️⃣ word.
We’ll go first: clinical. #AusOpen • #AO2024@wwos • @espn • @eurosport • @wowowtennis pic.twitter.com/5cmmhTDRIa
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 19, 2024
Another major talking point of the match is how Sabalenka achieved her 5th bagel already of the 2024 season. In the first round as well, she had begun her 2024 Australian Open campaign by defeating Ella Seidel of Germany 6-0 in the very first set. Interestingly, Aryna Sabalenka achieved this rare double bagel win 3 years after Australia’s Ashleigh Barty, as she was the last one to do so at the ‘Happy Slam’ back in 2021.
The signs are looking ominous for the Belarusian star and understandably, was in a good mood after the win. She was asked by the interviewer post match about her dominance in the tournament so far as she has not dropped a single set, while losing only 6 games in the first 3 rounds upto that point. Aryna Sabalenka joked about the fact that her biggest rival and World No.1, Iga Swiatek was her target when it comes to inflicting bagels as the Polish player did the same in 2023.
Interviewer: “1st Round 6-0 6-1. 2nd Round 6-3 6-2. Today 6-0 6-0. Is it fun for you sucking the joy out of other players games?”
Sabalenka: “Well last year Iga (Swiatek) won so many sets 6-0. This is one of the goals. Try to get closer to her.”
Aryna Sabalenka to take on United States’ Amanda Anisimova in Round of 16
Aryna Sabalenka’s run might not be a dream one afterall in this competition. Her next opponent, Amanda Anisimova is coming off a 7-5, 6-4 win against former World No.2 Paula Badosa of Spain in the Round of 32. Additionally, Animisova has a 4-1 record on head-to-head against Sabalenka, giving her the pre-match psychological edge.
Although Amanda Anisimova is ranked 442nd in the women’s singles WTA world rankings, she has a career-high one of 21 which was before she took a 9-month break from the sport. During the 2019-2022 phase did her four wins come against the World No.2. Remarkably, Anisimova hasn’t dropped a single set in the tournament, just like Aryna Sabalenka.
The Sabalenka vs Anisimova Round of 16 match is expected to take place on Saturday night EST.
