Sabalenka, Gauff move into Aussie Open Round 3
Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff, two of the top three seeds in the Australian Open, both reached the third round Wednesday.
Top-seeded Sabalenka defeated a tenacious Bai Zhouxuan of China 6-3, 6-1 at Rod Laver Arena, and No. 3 Gauff won over left-hander Olga Danilovic 6-2, 6-2 at Margaret Court Arena.
Sabalenka won the Australian Open in 2023 and 2024 and was the runner-up a year ago against Madison Keys. She is after her fifth Grand Slam title and has two trophies at the US Open.
Gauff, who has never advanced past the semifinals in Australia, has Grand Slam titles from the French Open and US Open.
Sabalenka raced to a 5-0 lead in the first set but then needed seven set points against the defense-minded Bai, who used clever drop shots to help her stay in the match.
"I was happy to get this win, a tricky opponent," Sabalenka said of Bai. "She really stepped in in the first set."
Sabalenka will next face Anastasia Potapova, who defeated 28th-seeded and former US Open champion Emma Raducanu 7-6 (3), 6-2.
Sabalenka led 4-0 in the second set and overpowered the smaller Bai. Sabalenka even tried a bit of serve-and-volley in the match, trying to diversify her game.
"You saw serve-and-volley today," Sabalenka said. "It didn't really work well, but I did one."
Bai was making her second appearance in the Australian Open and reached the second round for the first time.
Teenagers Mirra Andreeva (No. 8), Victoria Mboko (17) and Iva Jovic (29) advanced to the third round.
Also, 12th-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine defeated Linda Klimovicova of Poland 7-5, 6-1 and Zeynep Sönmez of Turkey, who was highly praised during her first-round match Sunday for assisting an ill ball girl, advanced to the third round after beating Anna Bondar 6-2, 6-4.
Sönmez played at one of Melbourne Park's outside courts, and the stands were crammed with members of Melbourne's Turkish community.
"I really appreciated there were many Turkish people, and I felt like I was at home," she said. "At first I couldn't even hear my own thoughts. It was very, very loud."
With 103,720 fans, the combined numbers for day and night sessions set a full-day record for the third time in four days of the main draw at the season-opening major.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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