Melbourne, Jan 21 (UNI) Aryna Sabalenka will face Olympic champion Belinda Bencic for her first Australian Open quarterfinal after sounding an ominous warning to the field with her defeat of Elise Mertens on Saturday.
A near-flawless start and finish bookended the tight spot she managed to scrap herself out of early in the second set against her former Australian Open-winning doubles partner, 6-2 6-3.
Tired of missing at crucial moments on the biggest matches, Sabalenka had worked hard on adding more margin for error to her explosive shots in the past year.