Sabalenka uses fighting spirit to banish Australian Open blues

MELBOURNE: World number one Aryna Sabalenka said Sunday her fighting spirit helped her bounce back from a stuttering first week at the Australian Open to blast into the quarter-finals.

Sabalenka is on track for a historic third consecutive Melbourne Park title after she steamrollered teenager Mirra Andreeva 6-1, 6-2. Sabalenka dropped her serve eight times in her previous two wins but was back to her imperious best against the Russian 17-year-old on the hottest day of the tournament so far, only conceding three break points and saving all of them. “Those matches gave me so much belief that, no matter what, I´m going to be there, I´m going to be fighting,” the Belarusian told reporters.

“When you struggle with your game and you had to overcome a lot of things and you still win a match, it gives you so much confidence going into the next one. “For me it´s about staying in the moment and focusing on myself and on bringing my best game,” Sabalenka added.

“I know that, if I´m able to bring my best game, I can get the win.” Her rapid victory, her 18th in a row at Melbourne Park, meant she only spent 62 minutes on Rod Laver Arena as temperatures nudged 32 degrees Celsius (90 Fahrenheit) during her match.

She was clearly revelling in the heat, which brought faster conditions on court. “The ball was flying like a rocket. I hope conditions are going to be the same till the end of the tournament,” said Sabalenka. She will face another Russian, the 27th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, for a place in the semi-final and a potential blockbuster clash with Coco Gauff.

Sabalenka ripped through her first two service games against Andreeva without conceding a point before racing to the first set in just 24 minutes. Sabalenka did not let up at the start of the second set and cruised to the finish line to keep her on course for a rare hat-trick of Australian Open consecutive titles.