Australian Open 2025: Aryna Sabalenka advances with Sloane Stephens scalp
What's the story
Aryna Sabalenka marched into the 2nd round of the Australian Open 2025 after a dominating 6-3, 6-2 win over American Sloane Stephens on Sunday at the Rod Laver Arena. This was Sabalenka's 15th straight win at the Australian Open. She came into the first-round clash with two successive Australian Open title wins in 2023 and 2024 respectively. Sabalenka is the favorite this year.
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5-0 win-loss record over Stephens
With this win, Sabalenka has raced to a 5-0 win-loss record over Stephens on the WTA Tour. Before this, the two met at the 2023 Roland Garros where Sabalenka won in straight sets.
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Here are the match stats
Both players doled out two aces each. However, Sabalenka committed two double faults with Stephens committing none. Sabalenka had a 69% win on the 1st serve and a 67% win on the 2nd. She converted 5/13 break points.
Stats
23-5 win-loss record at AO
Sabalenka has raced to a 23-5 win-loss record at the Australian Open in Melbourne. Overall in Grand Slams, she owns a 78-23 win-loss record. Sabalenka won two Grand Slam titles in 2024 (Australian Open and US Open) and finished the year with an 18-1 record at Slams. She is chasing her 4th Grand Slam title and a third successive one at AO.
Dominance
Sabalenka won Brisbane International title this year
Sabalenka started the year by capturing the Brisbane International title. She won 5 successive matches, beating the likes of Renata Zarazua, Yulia Putintseva, Marie Bouzkova, Mirra Andreeva and Polina Kudermetova. The No. 1 seed captured her 18th career WTA Tour title and a 13th on outdoor hard courts. The Brisbane 2025 honor was also her fourth trophy on Australian soil.