MELBOURNE Fifth seed Aryna Sabalenka marched into the last 16 of the Australian Open in straight sets on Saturday to tee up a showdown with Olympic champion Belinda Bencic.
The Belarusian swept past 32nd-ranked Belgian Elise Mertens 6-2, 6-3 on Margaret Court Arena to boost her growing status as a favourite for the first Grand Slam of the year.
Sabalenka needed just 74 minutes to beat her former doubles partner the pair won five titles together, including the Australian Open in 2021- but said it had not been as easy as it looked.
"It's really tough to play against her, especially. She's a great player, unbelievable fighter," said the powerful Sabalenka, who has yet to win a Slam.
"I knew it's going to be tough. I'm super happy that I was able to stay focused from beginning to the end to win this match because she's an amazing player." Bencic, of Switzerland, was just as assured in her 6-2, 7-5 victory over Italy's Camila Giorgi on Rod Laver Arena.
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