Australian Open 2023, Aryna Sabalenka downs Elise Mertens: Key stats
What's the story
Fifth seed Aryna Sabalenka trounced seven-time WTA singles titlist, Elise Mertens, in the third round of the Australian Open on Saturday. The Belarusian beat her rival in straight sets (6-2, 6-3) to storm into the fourth round in Melbourne. Up next, Sabalenka faces 12th-seeded Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, who beat Italian Camila Giorgi 6-2, 7-5. Here's more.
Stats
Key stats from the match
Sabalenka fired 32 winners to Mertens' 12. Both struck four aces each and conceded as many double faults in the match. Sabalenka converted 4/7 of her break points. She won 75% and 78% on her first and second serves, respectively. She claimed a total of 63 points, including 35 from serves.
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Sabalenka's 7th win over Mertens
As per WTA, Sabalenka now leads Mertens 7-2 in their head-to-head, including wins in their last six meetings. Before this game, the duo met in R16 of the 2021 US Open, with the former winning in straight sets.
2023
Sabalenka has a 7-0 record in 2023
Sabalenka has had a dominating start to the season. The world number five is 7-0 in 2023 so far. She won the Adelaide International 1 title, beating Linda Noskova in the final summit clash of the WTA 500 event. She has now reached the fourth round at Australian Open for the third straight year. Sabalenka, however, hasn't progressed beyond this stage in this tournament.
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Sabalenka's head-to-head against Bencic
Both Sabalenka and Bencic own a win each from their two WTA head-to-heads. Bencic won their last meet in 2019 Dubai across three sets.
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11-5 record in Australian Open
Sabalenka has raced to an 11-5 record in Australian Open. Overall, it's 39-19 across Slams. She hasn't gone past the semi-finals in any of the Majors. She ended up as a semi-finalist in US Open (2021 and 2022) and Wimbledon (2021).
Results
A look at other key results from the third round
Croatian Donna Vekic breezed past Nuria Parrizas-Diaz of Spain in a dominating 6-2, 6-2 fashion. Former world number one, Karolina Pliskova, beat Varvara Gracheva 6-4, 6-2. Number 23 seed Zhang Shuai of China overpowered American Katie Volynets 6-3, 6-2. Czech Linda Fruhvirtova prevailed against compatriot Marketa Vondrousova 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.