Aryna Sabalenka overcomes Clara Tauson challenge to Australian Open fourth round

Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, aged 26, faced a challenging match against Denmark's Clara Tauson, 22, winning 7-6(5), 6-4 on Friday to advance to the second week of the Australian Open, despite experiencing difficulties with her serve.

The world number one is on course to claim her third consecutive title at Melbourne Park, but only after enduring a tense contest that extended beyond two hours on Rod Laver Arena.

"That was a great battle," Sabalenka remarked.

"She played exceptional tennis. Competing against her today was quite difficult.

"I am extremely pleased that I managed to stay in the match and pushed myself to the limit to secure this victory."

Sabalenka struggled with her serve in her second-round encounter against Jessica Bouzas Maneiro and continued to face challenges, being broken to 15 in the opening game by world number 42 Tauson.

Both players struggled to find their rhythm consistently, and it was not until the eighth game that Tauson achieved the first service hold of the match, taking a 5-3 lead.

This prompted Sabalenka to elevate her performance, as she held her serve to love and then broke back.

"I would say that the conditions here make serving quite challenging," Sabalenka noted.

"Reflecting on the match, it was crucial to recover those breaks. The match could have gone either way, so I am very happy to have closed it out."

Sabalenka missed four set points at 6-5 on Tauson's serve, leading to a tiebreak.

However, on her fifth set point, she executed a powerful forehand winner to take the lead.

The second set mirrored the first, with Sabalenka finally consolidating a break for a 4-2 advantage, only for Tauson to equalize once again.

Both competitors came out aggressively at 4-4, trading impressive winners until Sabalenka secured a break after the longest game of the match, which featured seven deuces.

While serving for the match, Sabalenka had to fend off two additional break points from the resilient Tauson before ultimately clinching the victory in 2 hours and 6 minutes.

Both competitors aimed to prolong their unbeaten streaks in 2025 to eight matches, following Sabalenka's triumph at the Brisbane International warm-up and Tauson's victory in Auckland.

Ultimately, Sabalenka secured her 17th consecutive win in Melbourne.

Her next opponent will be the Russian teenage sensation Mirra Andreeva.

Sabalenka is in pursuit of a rare achievement: a third consecutive Australian Open title, a milestone last reached 26 years ago by Martina Hingis and accomplished by only four other women in the history of the tournament.

SportsLigue