- Belarusian beats Belinda Bencic 7-5, 6-2 to reach quarter-finals
- Reshaped service action marks out Sabalenka as title favourite
As Aryna Sabalenka moved towards the finish line of her highly anticipated fourth round match against Belinda Bencic on Monday, she faced a perilous moment where everything could have changed. At 4-2 in the second set, having taken the first, Sabalenka fell 0-30 down on her serve.
What followed was a telling response. She landed three big first serves and a 96 mph second serve, which produced two un-returnable serves and two forehand winners. Sabalenka won four points in a row, she breezed through the rest of the match and reinforced herself as the favourite and most in-form player in the Australian Open draw with a 7-5, 6-2 win.