Aryna Sabalenka and Elise Mertens resume their quests for a maiden grand slam title when they clash in the Australian…
Aryna Sabalenka and Elise Mertens resume their quests for a maiden grand slam title when they clash in the Australian Open third round.
Following the elimination of second seed Ons Jabeur in that section of the draw, both players will sense a genuine opportunity to go deep in Melbourne.
Seeded fifth and 26th respectively, both find themselves in familiar territory in the first major of the season.
Appearing in the third round for an eighth successive Slam, Sabalenka is aiming to reach the last 16 for the third year running.
Meanwhile, 2018 semi-finalist Mertens has maintained her record of having reached at least round three here every year since debuting in the main draw in 2017.
Sabalenka, who is targeting a fourth semi-final appearance in six grand slam events, has enjoyed a dominant start at Melbourne Park, dropping just nine games in her opening two matches.
First, she overcame Tereza Martincova 6-1, 6-4 before putting Shelby Rogers to the sword 6-3, 6-1.
Appearing in a Slam main draw for the 24th time in her career, Mertens is set for her 20th appearance in the third round.
The Belgian was forced to come from behind in a tricky opener against 2020 runner-up Garbine Muguruza, who she eventually saw off 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-1. However, she enjoyed a much smoother passage to round three after beating Lauren Davis 6-4, 6-3.
We can expect a closely fought encounter between two players in form, although Sabalenka has prevailed in five of their previous seven meetings on the WTA Tour.
The winner of this match will play either Belinda Bencic or Camila Giorgi in the Australian Open fourth round.
Play gets underway at around 5am GMT on Saturday and will be contested over the best of three sets on Margaret Court Arena.
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