MELBOURNE: Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka pummelled her second straight teenage qualifier into submission Wednesday to ease into the Australian Open third round.
The powerful Belarusian second seed was not at her vintage best on Rod Laver Arena, but still did enough against 16-year-old Brenda Fruhvirtova, romping home 6-3, 6-2.
Sabalenka has yet to be seriously tested as she bids to become the first woman to successfully defend her Melbourne title since Victoria Azarenka in 2013.
Her first-round opponent, Ella Seidel, was also a qualifier and lasted just 53 minutes, with the world number two dropping just one game.
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The Czech Republic’s Fruhvirtova put up a sterner fight, keeping the 25-year-old on court for 67 minutes before being overwhelmed.
“For someone 16 years old she is doing an incredible job. I mean, I wish I was on her level when I was 16,” said Sabalenka. “She is an unbelievable player. She’ll be at the top very soon.”
“I’m super-happy with the win,” she added. “I just tried to focus on myself and not anything else, and just tried to fight for every point.”
The odds were always stacked against Fruhvirtova, who has never beaten a top 10 player and is ranked more than 100 places below her opponent.
In only her third Grand Slam main draw, she tested Sabalenka on her opening serve, earning a break point, but it was fended off and the Belarusian responded by breaking the Czech at her first opportunity.
The gutsy teen was undaunted and with Sabalenka’s serve misfiring, she earned three more break points in the next game and this time grabbed the opportunity with a forehand down the line.
But the second seed regrouped and kept pressing, earning another break for 5-3 and served out for the set.
Fruhvirtova was broken again immediately in the second set as Sabalenka began imposing herself and there was no way back as the Grand Slam champion settled into her groove.
Sabalenka enjoyed a breakthrough 2023. As well as winning the Australian Open she also made the semi-finals in Paris and at Wimbledon before losing to Coco Gauff in the final of the US Open.
She will next face Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko or Spain’s Rebeka Masarova.
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