Australian Open: Aryna Sabalenka beats Belinda Bencic, reaches quarter-finals
What's the story
Aryna Sabalenka reached the quarter-final at the 2023 Australian Open after defeating Belinda Bencic. The fifth seed won 7-5, 6-2 to qualify for her first Australian Open quarter-final. Sabalenka had reached the Round of 16 in Melbourne for the third successive season. She has improved her head-to-head record against Bencic to 2-1. Here are the key stats.
Stats
Key stats from the match
Sabalenka won a total of 64 points and 32 winners in the match. Both Sabalenka and Bencic fired four aces each. Sabalenka recorded a win percentage of 78 and 64 on his first and second serve, respectively. She smashed the fastest serve of the match (191 KPH). Her opponent, Bencic, recorded a total of eight double faults.
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Here's the head-to-head record
Sabalenka now has a 2-1 lead over Bencic in the WTA head-to-head series. Bencic prevailed in their previous meeting (in Dubai in 2019). She defeated Sabalenka 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(7). Sabalenka won the first-ever match between the two. She won the quarter-final in New Haven.
Run
Sabalenka is 8-0 in 2023
Sabalenka has had a dominating start to the season. The world number five is 8-0 in 2023 so far. She won the Adelaide International 1 title, beating Linda Noskova in the final summit clash of the WTA 500 event. Sabalenka had reached the fourth round Australian Open for the third straight year. She has progressed beyond this stage for the first time in Melbourne.
Clash
Sabalenka will next take on Donna Vekic of Croatia
Sabalenka will next take on Donna Vekic of Croatia, who claimed a 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 win over Czech teen Linda Fruhvirtova. The latter reached the second Grand Slam quarter-final of her career. Vekic is on a seven-match winning streak, having secured three victories at United Cup. Fruhvirtova was vying to become the youngest Australian Open quarter-finalist in 25 years.
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H2H: Vekic 5-1 Sabalenka
Vekic has a win-loss record of 5-1 against Sabalenka (WTA head-to-head series). The former won the last match between the two (in 2022 in San Diego). She also beat Sabalenka at the Tokyo Games. Sabalenka's only win in this period came in 2019 (San Jose).