Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) began the defense of her Australian Open women’s title with a 2-0 (6:0, 6:1) win over German qualifier Ella Seidel. The match lasted only 55 minutes and could easily have ended without losing a game, but at 5:0 and 40:15 in the second set, Aryna Sabalenka missed two match points. She then gave up four match points on her serve, but on her seventh opportunity to close out the match, she did so.
The tennis player from Belarus recorded six aces in the match and 20 winners, while Ella Seidel made only four winners and did not hit a single direct point from the forehand.
In the second round, Aryna Sabalenka will face Brenda Fruhvirtova (Czech Republic), who eliminated Ana Bogdan (Romania) in three sets earlier today.
In the other late match of the women’s program, 2018 Melbourne champion Caroline Wozniacki also recorded a quick victory. The Danish tennis player, who recently returned to the court after maternity leave, was leading by 6:2, 2:0 against Magda Linette (poland) when the 20th-seeded Polish player withdrew due to injury.
In the second round, Caroline Wozniacki will face 20-year-old Maria Timofeeva (Russia), who eliminated Alize Cornet (France) after 2-0 (6:2, 6:4).
Meanwhile, Diane Parry (France) defeated Xinyu Wang (China) by 2-1 (6:3, 2:6, 6:3), while Maria Sakkari (Greece) eliminated Nao Hibino (Japan) after 2-0 (6:4, 6:1) and Caroline Dolehide (USA) won her match versus Leolia Jeanjean (France) by 2-0 (6:2, 6:4).
The 13th-seeded Liudmila Samsonova (Russia) lost to Amanda Anisimova (USA) by 0-2 (3:6, 4:6), while Sara Sorribes Tormo (Spain) lost to qualifier Alina Korneeva (Russia) by 1-2 (6:4, 3:6, 2:6).
