Gauff ‘near perfect’ as she joins Sabalenka in third round

Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff, both world champions, both blasted their way to successful victories in the third round of the Australian Open.

Gauff, the reigning French Open champion, defeated Olga Danilovic of Serbia by a score of 6-2, 6-2 in 77 minutes.

Sabalenka, who has twice won the tournament, defeated Chinese player Bai Zhuoxuan 6-3, 6-1, in 72 minutes.

Venus Williams’ Australian Open singles career was ended by Danilovic in the first round, but Gauff, a two-time major singles champion, couldn’t compete with him.

Gauff won the match’s opening five games before overcoming a broken serve to win the final set, establishing her authority right away.

After that, she held on to her lead, earning a 3-0 break in set two and meeting with fellow American Hailey Baptiste in the third round.

With just one double fault, Gauff defeated Danilovic, who had 14 winners and 17 unforced errors.

It significantly improved from her opening contest, where she had 31 unforced errors and seven double errors.

Sabalenka, the top seed, quickly asserted herself against a 701-place opponent, winning five games in a row in the first 15 minutes.

The four-time Grand Slam champion, who had her serve broken before being denied on her first six set points, initially expressed her frustration as she attempted to finish the opener.

Sabalenka won the battle after Bai’s resistance was over. In the Open era, she has now won 45 of her final 50 sets at the Australian Open, surpassing only Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis, Monica Seles, and Serena Williams.

According to Sabalenka, who won the Melbourne titles in 2023 and 2024, “that sounds crazy and surreal.”

Even though I’m far from their accomplishments, I never thought that people would compare me to these names.