Australian Open 2026 | World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka aims for title return, brushes aside early test

World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka has both happy and sad memories from the Australian Open. Prior to last year, she had won the title back-to-back and it had always felt like the Grand Slam you could always bet on her winning, then Madison Keys came along to change that.

But Sabalenka will aim to finally seal her hat-trick this upcoming year and has opened it well brushing aside a game opening test from Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajonah. Also known as Titi, the 20-year-old from Madagascar has rising towards the top 100 in recent times and grew up playing tennis at the age of six idolising Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams.

After only making her French Open debut last year, she went on to win the SP Open in Sao Paolo defeating Janice Tjen in the final as well as runs in Rouen so she very much is a player on the rise and she looked all of that player early on.

Sabalenka matched 23 winners with 20 unforced errors in the tie sealing 4/10 break points and solid on the serve with 79% of first serve points won. But she was broken straight away as the Frenchwoman caused her all sorts of problems in the early exchanges. She went 40-0 down initially before finally losing her serve on advantage the direction of Rakotomanga Rajonah. The latter though lost her serve straight away post that and what followed was pretty comfortable from both.

Sabalenka spurned a break chance at 3-2 up as the French ace held and similarly again in order to go towards the brink at 5-3. Instead it was 4-4 as she went 40-30 up on her serve and couldn't add the finishing touches. Matching her aggression, she was asking the questions until she wasn't as Sabalenka managed to finally break after her opponent had gone 40-30 up on her own serve to head towards potentially setting a tie-break or trying to break for the set herself.

But Sabalenka turned on the afterburners and sealed the opening set 6-4 edging through which proved to be the nail in the coffin for her opponent's charge so to speak. If the first was a feeling out process, the second was executing the dominance a World No.1 should.

She went 1-0 up holding serve before breaking for 2-0 and could've been 4-0 up with the Frenchwoman keeping herself only just in the contest by holding on to her serve. But Sabalenka still went two away holding serve for 4-1.

She only lost three more points from there as despite needing three break points, she finally sealed it on break point three to go 5-1 up and then she eased through her serve to add the icing on the cake. The first match is often the toughest to get through and Sabalenka is in business in Melbourne.