Aryna Sabalenka leaves no crumbs in Australian Open break-fest, streaks into second week

Aryna Sabalenka has proven her mental toughness time and again since winning her first major title at the Australian Open, but the world No. 1 confessed she even surprised herself at times on Rod Laver Arena.

“I was playing this match and thinking, ‘Wow, girl! You’re really tough!’” Sabalenka exclaimed after a 7-6 (5), 6-4 victory over Clara Tauson. “So many times, I was thinking, ‘Ok, I’m done,’ but I was like, ‘Keep pushing.’

“I have to say, you guys are helping so much to push myself to keep playing in front of you,” she added, crediting the crowd for the win.

A kind gesture, but the crowd seemed often incidental to the slugfest playing out between two players who were as-yet unbeaten in 2025: Sabalenka began the year with a title run in Brisbane while Tauson edged past an injured Naomi Osaka to lift a trophy in Auckland.

Tauson is a former junior Australian Open champion; Sabalenka has won the women’s title for two years running, and bids to become the first since Martina Hingis (1997-1999) to hoist the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Trophy three years in a row.

Only one could emerge victorious, and it was Sabalenka’s superior consistency that won the day after two hours and six minutes to open play on Laver.

I was playing this match and thinking, ‘Wow, girl! You’re really tough!’ Aryna Sabalenka

The top seed has not only won her last 17 matches in Melbourne but also her last 22 sets, dating back to the first set of her 2023 final against Elena Rybakina. That isn’t to say she’s been tested: in both her second and third rounds, she stood within a game of losing a set. She won the final four games the former against Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, and navigated a break-filled opening set—eight in total—with Tauson on Friday.

“Honestly, I would say the conditions here are tough to serve,” she told Casey Dellacqua after the match. “The balls are heavy, the court is pretty slow, so it’s heavy conditions. Every time we were making those breaks, it wasn’t a disappointment, just like, ‘Come on, just keep pushing, keep trying your best.’

“Looking back, it was really important to get all those breaks back.”

Again rallying from a 3-5 deficit, Sabalenka forced a tiebreaker and shook off losing a 4-1 lead to ultimately serve out the set on her first set point.

She threatened to run away with the match thanks to an early break advantage in the second, but Tauson showed off some impressive hitting of her own to level the match at four games apiece. A marathon ninth game ensued, featuring seven deuces. Sabalenka beared down when she needed to most, converting break a second break point of the game and digging out of a 15-40 hole in the following game to edge over the finish line.

“It could go either way, and I don’t know, I’m just super happy I could close this match and be in the fourth round,” said Sabelanka to more cheers from the crowd who, as promised, lent her plenty of support after favoring Bouzas Maniero on Wednesday.

Standing between Sabalenka and a third straight Australian Open quarterfinal will be the winner of the third-round match between No. 23 seed Magda Freçh and No. 14 seed Mirra Andreeva.

Sabalenka and Andreeva last faced off earlier this year in Brisbane, with the world No. 1 winning in straight sets. But Andreeva won their most recent Grand Slam match, stunning an under-the-weather Sabalenka at Roland Garros to reach her first major semifinal.

The next week will be the biggest test yet of Sabalenka’s improved mental fortitude; is she up for the challenge?