Aryna Sabalenka beat Tereza Martincova 6-1, 6-4 on Tuesday to advance to the second round of the Australian Open, extending her unbeaten start to the year.
With 29 winners to her opponent’s seven, fifth-seeded Sabalenka, who won the Adelaide International title in the first week of the year, won her fifth match in a row.
“It wasn’t that easy, I’m super-happy to start with the win,” said Sabalenka, who will play American Shelby Rogers in the second round. “I have to work on my mindset and stay calm and not get too upset when I make mistakes. I really believe this is the only thing missing in my game.”
Sabalenka hasn’t reached the fourth round of the Australian Open in five of her previous visits, and she hasn’t won a Grand Slam singles title.
Caroline Garcia defeated Canadian qualifier Katherine Sebov 6-3, 6-0 to begin her quest for a first Grand Slam singles title. The fourth-seeded player, who took just 65 minutes to win the WTA Finals at the end of 2022, now plays another Canadian, Leylah Fernandez, who beat Alize Cornet 7-5, 6-2. Fernandez is a former US Open runner-up.
The 2020 runner-up Garbine Muguruza dropped her fifth match in a row to start the year, falling to Elise Mertens 3-6, 6-7 (3), 6-1. Muguruza, a two-time Grand Slam champion, served out the second set at 6-5.
Before, China’s Wang Xyi was defeated easily by Former No. 1 Karolina Pliskova, 6-1, 6-3. Taylor Townsend defeated Diane Parry, a French wild-card player, 6-1, 6-1 to win her first Grand Slam match since becoming a mother. Ekaterina Alexandrova will be the American’s next encounter.
Other women’s field winners included No. 9 is Veronika Kudermetova, and No. 16 Anett Kontaveit
Martina Trevisan, who was ranked 21st, lost to qualifier Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-3, 6-2.
