Aryna Sabalenka begins quest for third consecutive Australian Open title with win over American Sloane Stephens

By Issy Ronald, CNN

(CNN) — World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka began her Australian Open title defense by defeating Sloane Stephens 6-3 6-2 in the first round on Sunday.

The Belarusian, who is seeking to become the first woman since 1999 to win three consecutive Australian Open titles, easily dispatched her American opponent before celebrating with a dance during her on-court interview afterwards.

Inspired by Sabalenka’s tradition of posting dances on TikTok at the Australian Open, interviewer Jelena Dokic encouraged the three-time grand slam champion to lead the crowd in a dance.

As the crowd clapped and music blared, Sabalenka overcame her embarrassment and showed off her dance moves before attempting to take a picture with her Polaroid camera, only to realise the film had run out.

“I’m super happy to be back. I love this place and … wow, we have a full stadium, I couldn’t dream for more,” the 26-year-old said.

“It was a tough match. I don’t feel like I played my best probably but I’m glad that I managed to close this match in straight sets. It definitely feels like home.”

At first, Sabalenka simply overpowered Stephens, often leaving the American stranded so that she could only watch balls fizz past her on the baseline and broke her twice to race into a 4-0 lead.

The first three games took just seven minutes and it seemed as if Sabalenka would quickly wrap up the match. But Stephens stepped up, showing glimpses of the qualities which made her a US Open champion, and unleashed a crosscourt forehand winner to bring up her own break point. She converted that to gain a foothold in the set, held serve, and then broke Sabalenka again to make it 4-3.

But Sabalenka snuffed out any hope of a comeback when she broke Stephens again in the longest game of the match and then held her serve to take the first set.

“I think I kind of stepped back after a few games didn’t go well,” she said afterward, per the WTA. “I stepped back, and I give her a chance to come back in the match. I’m glad that in that game on 4-3 I stepped in and I was going forward to the net. I think that was the key to get back to this match.”

The second set began in a similar fashion as Sabalenka took the early lead and tightened her grip on the match with a double break soon afterward. This time, Stephens could not muster a comeback and Sabalenka held her serve to secure the second set, and the match.

Sabalenka will face Spain’s Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro in the second round as she aims to become the first woman since Martina Hingis between 1997 and 1999 to win three titles in a row in Melbourne.

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