Aryna Sabalenka handed Lesia Tsurenko the dreaded double bagel on Friday in Melbourne as Coco Gauff also reached the last-16 with a straight-sets victory over Alycia Parks; 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva saved a match point when 5-1 down in the final set of her win over Diane Perry
Friday 19 January 2024 21:29, UK
Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka breezed into the fourth round of the Australian Open without dropping a game, while 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva also progressed after producing a miracle comeback.
Andreeva - who defeated Ons Jabeur in the previous round - recovered from a 5-1 deficit in the third set and saved a match point to seal a 1-6 6-1 7-6 (10-5) win over France's Diane Parry and enter the fourth round at Melbourne on her senior debut.
The Russian teenager spoke of her admiration for Andy Murray during her breakthrough tournament in Madrid last spring, describing him as "beautiful", then was left stunned by the former world No 1 following her progress against Parry and posting about her on social media.
Andreeva said: "I didn't really think that he would watch a match, then after he would tweet, he would comment something.
"Honestly, I will try to print it out somehow. I don't know, I will put it in a frame. I will bring it everywhere with me. I will maybe put it on the wall so I can see it every day."
Andreeva also reached the fourth round at a slam at Wimbledon last year and is closing in on the top 30 in the rankings, despite being restricted to 12 tournaments a year because of her age.
Her next opponent will be ninth seed Barbora Krejcikova, who ended the run of Australian qualifier Storm Hunter by winning 4-6 7-5 6-3.
Sabalenka, who won her first Grand Slam title in Australia last year, needed just 52 minutes to hand out a "double bagel" with a 6-0 6-0 thrashing of Lesia Tsurenko at the Rod Laver Arena.
The second seed's victory is her first by that margin at pro tour level, having narrowly missed out on a double bagel in the opening round, with the latest win meaning she dropped just six games through three matches at Melbourne Park.
"Last year, Iga [Swiatek] won so many sets 6-0 and this is one of the goals, to try to get closer to her," Sabalenka joked. "I'm just super-happy with the level I'm playing so far. Hopefully I can just keep going like that or even better."
Sabalenka will play Amanda Anisimova, who continued her comeback after taking seven months out of the game last year for mental health reasons with a 7-5 6-4 win over former world No 2 Paula Badosa.
"It's quite unbelievable," said Ansimova, who hit 40 winners on her way to victory. "For sure taking a step away from the game... gave me a new perspective. I'm trying to be in the present. I think in the past I was getting too caught up in the past and the future."
Sabalenka said she expects a tough match against Anisimova, who has won four of their five matches, adding: "She's an incredible player and I'm really happy to see her back."
At the end of the match there was no handshake, as has been standard between Ukrainian players and those from Russia and Belarus since the start of the war nearly two years ago, although the pair did both put their hands up to acknowledge each other.
Asked why she maintains the position, Tsurenko said: "This is very tough to explain, you just have to feel what I feel and you will not have these questions for me. I feel like so many things that were so important for me are not important any more, like a tennis match. I don't feel like I really care about how I finish the match, what is the score.
"I care more about the fact I can be here and I can remind the world that the war is still on, I care about the fact that I can earn some money and I can donate and I can help other people."
"I respect everyone's position," added Sabalenka, who was criticised at the French Open last year for standing at the net as if waiting for a handshake she knew was not going to come from Ukraine's Elina Svitolina. "She was quite respectful. She said, 'Great play'. She didn't shake my hand, but she was respectful to me, so I appreciate that."
Fourth seed Coco Gauff has also been in impressive form and she eased to a 6-0 6-2 victory over fellow American Alycia Parks.
Gauff played an almost flawless match as she beat Parks in 61 minutes, making just eight unforced errors to the 34 of her less experienced opponent and losing just two games on her way to a straight-sets win.
"I'm really happy with how I played," Gauff said. "The score says different. She's a tough player. She hits the ball big. I've known her since I was like eight years old. Our first time ever playing juniors or pros. Hopefully we can have many more matches in the future."
Gauff will next play Poland's Magdalena Frech, who defeated Russian qualifier Anastasia Zakharova 4-6 7-5 6-4.
Elsewhere, Russian qualifier Maria Timofeeva, ranked 170th in the world, beat 10th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia 7-6 (9-7) 6-3 to set up a last-16 clash with Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk, who saw off Timofeeva's countrywoman Elina Avanesyan 2-6 6-4 6-4.
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