Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka stormed into the fourth round of Australian Open 2024 after beating Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko 6-0, 6-0 at the Rod Laver Arena.
Australian Open 2024, Day 6, Live Updates
In the morning session of her third round match, Sabalenka did not give Tsurenko any breathing space and kept dominating throughout. The World No.2 was in an absolute hurry as she stormed past her Ukrainian opponent in 52 minutes.
Tsurenko was caught napping, both with her first and second serves, with a win percentage of 35 and 23 respectively. She made life tough for herself by making six double faults and 15 unforced errors.
Sabalenka, on the other hand, hit 16 winners, nine more than Tsurenko, to stamp her authority on the match.
In the other women’s singles match, America’s Amanda Anisimova handed Spain’s Paula Badosa a crushing defeat in the third round. Anisimova won the match 7-5, 6-4 in an hour and 28 minutes.
Badosa took an early break of serve to go 2-0 up in the first set, but Anisimova got the break back in the very next game. Badosa earned three breaks of serve, but it wasn’t enough for her as her opponent got four of them to overpower her.
At 3-3 in the second set, Anisimova earned her fifth and final break of the match to drill the final nail in the coffin. Anisimova churned out 40 winners, 22 more than Badosa, and that turned out to be the deciding factor in the context of the match.
She made 19 more unforced errors than Badosa, but they did not cost her. Anisimova pulled off four aces, but would like to cut down on the six double faults that she made.
Anisimova has a huge task on her hands as she gets set to face the dangerous Sabalenka, who breathed fire against Tsurenko.
