'Feels like home' - Sabalenka starts title defence with win

Australian Open 2025

Dates: 12-26 January Venue: Melbourne Park

Coverage: Live vigor commentary connected Tennis Breakfast from 07:00 GMT connected BBC 5 Sports Extra, positive unrecorded substance commentaries connected the BBC Sport website and app

Aryna Sabalenka says the Australian Open "feels similar home" aft she began her rubric defence with a straight-set triumph implicit American Sloane Stephens.

The satellite fig 1 and back-to-back champion successful Melbourne defeated Stephens 6-3 6-2 successful the archetypal circular connected Rod Laver Arena.

The 26-year-old is aiming to go conscionable the seventh subordinate to assertion a 3rd consecutive Australian Open women's singles title, and the archetypal since Martina Hingis successful 1999.

"I'm ace blessed to beryllium back. I emotion this spot and we person a afloat stadium, I couldn't imagination for more," said Sabalenka, who overcame a wobble successful the opening acceptable to instrumentality victory.

"It was a pugnacious match. They are ever pugnacious matches against her. I don't consciousness similar I played my champion astir apt but I'm gladsome that I managed to adjacent this lucifer successful consecutive sets.

"It decidedly feels similar home."

Sabalenka entertained the Melbourne assemblage with immoderate dancing connected tribunal aft the lucifer having built up rather a pursuing connected societal media by posting videos of her dancing with her squad connected TikTok.

Fast becoming a instrumentality favourite, she past went to instrumentality a representation of the assemblage with a polaroid camera earlier expressing her disappointment erstwhile she realised it had tally retired of film.

The apical effect volition look Spain's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, who knocked retired British hopeful Sonay Kartal, successful the adjacent round.

Rain affected proceedings connected the extracurricular courts connected time 1 of the season's archetypal Grand Slam, but the Rod Laver Arena extortion was unfastened successful clip for Sabalenka's evening lucifer aft Zheng Qinwen, her hostile successful past year's final, earlier beat Romanian qualifier Anca Todoni.

Sabalenka finished 2024 arsenic the year-end satellite fig 1 for the archetypal clip and, opening her run successful Australia arsenic two-time defending champion and apical seed, looked successful good signifier arsenic she raced to a 4-0 lead.

But Stephens, who has pedigree connected the hard tribunal arsenic a erstwhile US Open champion, pegged Sabalenka back, breaking backmost doubly for 4-3 arsenic Sabalenka made a bid of unforced errors.

Often animated connected court, Sabalenka roared successful vexation astatine each mistake, waving her arms astir successful exasperation.

What had looked apt to beryllium a straightforward opening acceptable of her run turned retired to beryllium much tricky but the three-time Grand Slam champion converted her 5th interruption constituent for 5-3 past served to instrumentality the set.

Sabalenka erstwhile again earned herself a treble interruption successful the 2nd acceptable and this clip was capable to clasp connected to her vantage implicit Stephens, who has not won a lucifer since past year's Wimbledon.

The 31-year-old's dismal signifier astatine the Australian Open continued arsenic she exited the tourney successful the archetypal circular for the 4th clip successful 5 appearances.

Victory means Sabalenka has present won 28 of her past 29 matches successful hard tribunal Slams since the commencement of 2023, winning 15 consecutive matches astatine the Australian Open and 17 consecutive sets.

It is the archetypal clip successful her vocation she is seeded fig 1 astatine a Grand Slam and, having won the Brisbane International past week, looks successful good signifier to spell for an historical 'three-peat'.