Sabalenka shows Bencic the exit door, advances to quarterfinals at Australian Open

Aryna Sabalenka keeps winning at the Australian Open, this time defeating Belinda Bencic in straight sets by 7-5, 6-2

On the women's side, the duel between Sabalenka and Bencic seemed to be one of the intense of the day, not just because of the ranking of both players, but also for the results they have achieved at the start of the season. Both have already won one tournament this season, and neither had conceded a set in the first three rounds.

Throughout the tournament, Sabalenka showed that she has significantly reduced the number of double faults she makes per game, probably the biggest problem in her game. In fact, the Belarusian had only committed seven double faults in the first three rounds in Melbourne, a good number for a player who can usually reach 10 double faults in a single match.

Some troubles came for the former world No. 2 in the third game when she hit three double faults to help Bencic reach the opening break. After that, there were doubts on the part of the 5th seed, but she knew how to pick up his level and added two breaks, which gave her the first set 7-5.

In the second set, Sabalenka improved even more, she had great efficiency on serve and her powerful forehand was simply uncontrollable for the Swiss. The individual gold medalist at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games showed resistance during the match, but with doubts on the serve, reaching 8 double faults. Finally, the World No.5 won the second set by 6-2 with an excellent level.

The Belarusian had 59% first serve and won 78% of them, while Bencic had 51% first serve and won 66%. Now, the 5th seed will face the winner of the match between the Croatian Donna Vekic and the young Czech Linda Fruhvirtova.