By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday January 18, 2022
The No.2 seed battled from the brink to defeat Aussie wild card in three sets.
Photo Source: Getty
Aryna Sabalenka entered the Australian Open with an 0-2 record on the season and a total of 39 double-faults in those two matches. What could go wrong in her first-round encounter, against Australian wild card Storm Sanders?
Whatever could go wrong did go wrong for a set and a half, but the No.2 seed pulled herself out of the figurative locker room and began to own the court, winning the next nine games and 11 of the final 13 to lock down a satisfying 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 triumph.
“The start of the season wasn’t really great for me but I’m really happy that I got this win,” she said on court after the match.
Sanders, who drops to 0-6 in Grand Slam main draw singles matches, was playing fantastic tennis and had Sabalenka on the ropes at 7-5, 3-1.
How did Sabalenka turn it around?
“I don’t know,” she said. “I was already in my locker room actually. Maybe that was the key because I stopped thinking too much and I just started playing tennis.”
Sabalenka finishes with 7 aces, 12 double-faults, 29 winners and 37 unforced errors. She’ll want to clean up her game before she meets China’s Wang Xinyu (who beat American Ann Li for her first Grand Slam main draw win) in the second round, and it’s likely that she will.
The Belarusian has reached the semifinals in her last two major appearances, and even though she doesn’t enter in the finest of form, she proved on Tuesday in Melbourne that she can find ways to win on the biggest stages.