Aryna Sabalenko dropped just five games in a match against her former doubles partner and advanced to the 1/8 finals of the Australian Open 2023.

Aryna Sabalenko defeated Elise Mertens at the Australian Open

Sabalenka, the 5th favorite of the competition in Melbourne, beat Belgian Elise Mertens (32 WTA, 26th seed) in just one hour and 14 minutes of play with the score 6-2, 6-3.

Aryna Sabalenko and Elise Mertens won two Grand Slam titles together: US Open 2019 and Australian Open 2021. They won three more tournaments: Miami, Indian Wells (2019), Ostrava (2020) and reached the final in Wuhan (2019).

Know:

• For a place in the quarters, Arina will fight with Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic (10 WTA, favorite 10), after the Swiss beat Camila Giorgi (70 WTA) 6-2, 7-5.

• In 2023, Sabalenko won all seven matches with a score of 2:0 in sets. Athlete from Belarus won the trophy at Adelaide International 1 (WTA 500).

Australian Open 2023 will be held from January 16 to 29. The reigning champions are Ashley Barty (now retired) and Rafael Nadal (eliminated in the second round).