My pick to win the Australian Open on the women's side at the beginning of the tournament was world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who is gunning for a three-peat. So far, that pick is looking solid as Sabalenka is into the quarterfinals without dropping a set. Most recently, Sabalenka dispatched of No. 14 Mirra Andreeva 6-1, 6-2 in the 4th round.
Through four matches, Sabalenka is tied for second in the tournament with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in break points won (20). Number one is Emma Navarro with 21 breakpoints won. Oddly enough, Pavlyuchenkova is Sabalenka's next opponent in the quarterfinals. Given how well both players have done with break points, that should be an interesting match. A big reason why Sabalenka is doing so well with break points is her ability to win points off her opponents' first serve. She and Pavlyuchenkova are both tied at fourth place in the tournament with 77 first serve return points won, just two points behind Coco Gauff and Donna Vekic, who have won 79 first serve return points.
Sabalenka is also serving well with 18 aces, which is top ten in the tournament, but it's really her return of serve that is giving opponents trouble. When you are able to win break points and first serve return points as well as Sabalenka, you're going to be tough to stop. That's clearly the key to her success.
As far as whether or not anyone can stop Sabalenka, the two names that stand out as the biggest threats to her quest for a three-peat are Pavlyuchenkova and Gauff. Pavlyuchenkova is returning as well as Sabalenka is and doing a great job of capitalizing on break point opportunities and winning first serve return points. So that could be a tough matchup in the quarterfinals. And then Gauff just because of how well she's serving. Gauff is serving better than anyone Sabalenka has seen so far in this tournament and has a chance to give her some serious trouble on that end. Gauff is also returning well, so just all around she's a threat.
If Sabalenka were to see Gauff, that would be in the semifinals. So two of the most difficult opponents are her quarterfinal and potential semifinal opponent. That adds to the challenge for sure. That said, I still expect Sabalenka to pull through and win her third straight Australian Open title. She's been the best at this event the last couple of seasons and knows what it takes to get it done. It'll be fun to see how the coming week unfolds for Sabalenka and the rest of the women's field.
ATPGuy.com on X (Twitter): @atp_guy
ATPGuy.com on Facebook: @ATPGuyNation
Ben Parker on Facebook, IG, Threads, X (Twitter), & Blue Sky: @slamdunk406
No comments:
Post a Comment