{"id":420471,"date":"2026-01-21T08:48:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T08:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/420471\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T08:48:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T08:48:10","slug":"near-perfect-gauff-joins-sabalenka-in-third-round","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/420471\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Near perfect’ Gauff joins Sabalenka in third round"},"content":{"rendered":"

A “near perfect” Coco Gauff and world number one Aryna Sabalenka both blasted their way into the Australian Open third round with efficient victories.<\/p>\n

French Open champion Gauff needed just 77 minutes to sweep aside Serbia’s Olga Danilovic 6-2 6-2.<\/p>\n

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Two-time winner Sabalenka spent even less time on court, overpowering China’s Bai Zhuoxuan 6-3 6-1 in 72 minutes.<\/p>\n

The top 10 women’s seeds all remain in the tournament on day four in Melbourne, with Italian seventh seed Jasmine Paolini and Russian eighth seed Mirra Andreeva playing later on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Danilovic ended American legend Venus Williams’ Australian Open singles campaign in the first round but was no match for two-time major singles champion Gauff on Margaret Court Arena.<\/p>\n

Gauff immediately established her authority by winning the first five games of the match before overcoming a loss of serve to seal the first set.<\/p>\n

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She did not relent from there, consolidating a break for a 3-0 lead in set two before serving her way to victory – and a third-round meeting against fellow American Hailey Baptiste.<\/p>\n

Gauff hit 14 winners and made 17 unforced errors against Danilovic, with just one double fault.<\/p>\n

It was a significant improvement on her opening match, in which she was hampered by seven double faults and 31 unforced errors.<\/p>\n

“Near perfect,” was how Gauff summarised her performance afterwards.<\/p>\n

‘Crazy and surreal’ – Sabalenka notches another win\"Aryna<\/p>\n

Aryna Sabalenka has not lost to a player outside the top 100 in more than three years [Getty Images]<\/p>\n

Sabalenka, who has yet to lose a match in 2026, will face Anastasia Potapova in the third round at Melbourne Park, after the Russian-born Austrian defeated British number one Emma Raducanu.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Like Gauff, top seed Sabalenka was quick to assert herself against an opponent ranked 701 places below her, winning five consecutive games in the first 15 minutes.<\/p>\n

But the four-time Grand Slam champion was initially frustrated as she sought to polish off the opener, having her serve broken before being denied on her first six set points.<\/p>\n

With Bai’s resistance ended, Sabalenka cruised to victory. She has now won 45 of her last 50 sets at the Australian Open – a record bettered only by Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis, Monica Seles, and Serena Williams in the Open era.<\/p>\n

“That sounds crazy and surreal, to be honest,” Sabalenka, who won the Melbourne title in 2023 and 2024, said.<\/p>\n

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“I just never thought that people will compare me to these names, even though I’m really far away from their achievements.<\/p>\n

“It motivates me to keep doing my thing. It just means for me that I’m on the right way.”<\/p>\n

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[BBC]<\/p>\n

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