Aryna Sabalenka, number one in the world, qualified for the third round of the Australian Open with a straight sets victory over China's Bai Zhuoxuan. The Belarusian tennis player, who reached the final of the tournament in the last three years, with victories in 2023 and 2024, overcame the duel with the 697th ranked player in the WTA ranking, coming from the qualifying phase, in just one hour and 12 minutes, winning 6-3 and 6-1. After losing last year's final to North American Madison Keys, the leader of the world rankings confirmed her favoritism against the Chinese, who started the match poorly and ended up losing 5-0 in the first half. Bai, 23, still responded, winning the next three games, but Sabalenka, 27, then managed to impose her serve and close the set 6-3. History repeated itself again in the second half, with the Belarusian winning the first four games before the Chinese managed to respond. This time, Sabalenka didn't tremble and closed the set 6-1. In the next round, the Belarusian will meet the winner of the tie between the Austrian Anastasia Potapova (55th in the world) and the British Emma Raducanu (29th).