By Shrivathsa Sridhar
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Aryna Sabalenka said early exits by big names at the Australian Open would not make her title defence any easier after the top seed saw one of her main title rivals go out in the second round with Zheng Qinwen’s defeat by world number 97 Laura Siegemund.
Sabalenka sealed a battling 6-3 7-5 victory over Spaniard Jessica Bouzas Maneiro on Wednesday shortly before fifth seed Zheng, who lost to the Belarusian in last year’s final, crashed out 7-6(3) 6-3.
Zheng’s exit leaves Sabalenka with one less seed to worry about but the three-times Grand Slam champion said it made little difference in such a competitive field.
“Listen, it’s a slam, you know? Not everyone can handle these emotions,” Sabalenka told reporters.
“As you can see, there are so many players who are playing really well in these conditions. It’s not like if they’re gone, it’s easy for me. No, it’s not.
“I have to go there, I have to compete, I have to fight. Today’s match proved that. Girls can go there and just play without any fear, without anything to lose.
“They can put you in really uncomfortable positions.”
Sabalenka was feeling the pressure in her own match and trailed 5-2 at one point in the second set against Bouzas Maneiro, who stunned Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in the opening round at the All England Club last year.
“I definitely didn’t want a third set. Who wants it? But at that moment I didn’t really want to get bothered by that and let go of the set,” said Sabalenka, who is bidding to become the first woman to win three successive titles at Melbourne Park since Martina Hingis from 1997-99.
“I told myself, ‘OK, let’s go play a third’ and I somehow mentally prepared myself for that, tried to find my serve to not to give her too many chances.
“Then somehow it seemed to me that she got tense when it got to 5-3 and I felt there was an opportunity. I’m very glad that I managed to finish in two sets.
“I didn’t really want to get too physically exhausted in the second round.”
Up next for Sabalenka is Dane Clara Tauson, who won the Auckland title in the build-up to the Australian Open after Naomi Osaka retired injured.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar and Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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