Fearless Sabalenka overcomes shaky start

ARYNA Sabalenka overcame a nervy start at the Australian Open to showcase a more versatile, “fearless” gameplan in front of tennis royalty. | AFP

- 

ARYNA Sabalenka warned she was only going to get better as the top seed recovered from a slow start to launch her Australian Open with a straight-sets win yesterday.

The world No 1 tamed French wildcard Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah 6-4, 6-1 as she bids to claim a third Melbourne crown in four years. The Belarusian faces Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia or Chinese qualifier Bai Zhuoxuan next.

Sabalenka, who lost last year’s final, said that the first match of a Grand Slam was always tricky, especially against an opponent she had never played before. Sabalenka has been trying to expand her game, including going to the net more often, and said the variation made her a better player.