Aryna Sabalenka gave a statement of her intent at the Australian Open by powering past Belinda Bencic to reach the quarter-finals.
The Belarusian began the season by winning a title in Adelaide and is yet to drop a set in 2023 as she bids to win a first grand slam title.
Sabalenka has been knocking on the door for several years, reaching back-to-back semi-finals at the US Open and the last four at Wimbledon in 2021, but is yet to make a final.
In fine form 💯
Can @SabalenkaA take it all the way?@wwos • @espn • @Eurosport • @wowowtennis • #AusOpen • #AO2023 pic.twitter.com/luzrBGXqcc— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 23, 2023
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Last year she began the season struggling to land her serve in the court but everything appears to have come together and Sabalenka was superb in a 7-5 6-2 victory over 12th seed Bencic, another in-form player, hitting 32 winners and only 18 unforced errors.
Consulting a biomechanical expert proved the key to fixing her serving issues and Sabalenka now sees it as a blessing in disguise.
“I’m super happy that this thing with my serve happened to me,” she said.
“Before I wouldn’t be really open for that. I would be like, ‘You know what, my serve is fine, I don’t want to change anything’. Actually, even when my serve was working, it wasn’t really right.
“I was, in that moment, open for whatever. I was just like, ‘Please, someone help me to fix this f***ing serve. I’m sorry for swearing, but this is how it was.”
![Donna Vekic](https://img.resized.co/breaking-news/eyJkYXRhIjoie1widXJsXCI6XCJodHRwczpcXFwvXFxcL2NvbnRlbnQuYXNzZXRzLnByZXNzYXNzb2NpYXRpb24uaW9cXFwvQVBcXFwvMjAyM1xcXC8wMVxcXC8yM1xcXC9kZTQ2ODM0MzVjN2U0MzBiYWNjZDhjNWNkYjY3MjMxNy5qcGc_dz02NDBcIixcIndpZHRoXCI6XCI2NDBcIixcImhlaWdodFwiOlwiNDI3XCIsXCJkZWZhdWx0XCI6XCJodHRwczpcXFwvXFxcL3d3dy5icmVha2luZ25ld3MuaWVcXFwvaW1hZ2VzXFxcL25vLWltYWdlLnBuZ1wiLFwib3B0aW9uc1wiOntcIm91dHB1dFwiOlwid2VicFwifX0iLCJoYXNoIjoiMzBkZjk4YWFhODA3ZjA0OTMzMjYxNmI3ZjAyZjZhMjVmODY2YTM5NyJ9/sabalenka-powers-past-bencic-to-reach-australian-open-quarter-finals.jpg?w=640)
“I want believe that the way I’m working right now, the way I’m on the court right now, this is the new beginning, and this is the next step. So I really want to believe that it’s going to really help me.”
The conditions at Melbourne Park this year are clearly favouring the power players and Sabalenka will be a big favourite to make the final from the bottom half, particularly following the exit of fourth seed Caroline Garcia in another upset.
Next up for fifth seed Sabalenka will be a clash with unseeded Croatian Donna Vekic, who ended the run of 17-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova with a 6-2 1-6 6-3 victory.
Vekic was also a former teenage prodigy and made her debut here a decade ago but this is only her second grand slam quarter-final.
Former world number one Karolina Pliskova has slid virtually unnoticed through the draw, reaching the last eight with a 6-0 6-4 victory over Zhang Shuai.
Respect 🤝@MagdaLinette • #AusOpen • #AO2023 pic.twitter.com/HpTqOE9EIN
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 23, 2023
The Czech missed her first grand slam since the US Open in 2012 here last year after sustaining a hand injury.
Pliskova said: “Of course it’s amazing just to be here because I was really, really sad last year that I missed especially this part of the season.
“It just took me some while because I also started pretty much still with the pain. I felt like lately I was finding my game. Now I continue playing how I was playing in the US swing. Happy again to be in the quarter-finals second slam in a row.”
Garcia ended last season by winning the biggest title of her career at the WTA Finals and arrived in Melbourne as one of the favourites but fell to a shock loss against 45th-ranked Linette.
The Pole, who has unexpectedly gone further than her compatriots Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz, claimed a 7-6 (3) 6-4 victory to make the first grand slam quarter-final of her career.