‘Feels like home’ – Sabalenka starts title defence with win

Australian Open 2025

Dates: 12-26 January Venue: Melbourne Park

After defeating American Sloane Stephens straight sets, Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka says the event “feels like home.”

In the first round of Rod Laver Arena, Stephens defeated the reigning world number one and back-to-back champion with a score of 6-3, 6-2.

The 26-year-old Belarusian hopes to become the first player to win the Australian Open women’s singles title in a row since Martina Hingis in 1999.

“I’m super happy to be back. I love this place and we have a full stadium, I couldn’t dream for more”, said Sabalenka, who overcame a wobble in the opening set to take victory.

“I don’t think I played my best likely set, but I’m happy I was able to come back to a winning set.”

” It definitely feels like home. “

Since the start of 2023, Sabalenka has won 28 of her last 29 hard-court matches, including 15 Australian Open victories in succession.

After the match, Sabalenka gained some dancing momentum on the court by posting videos of her dancing with her team on TikTok. She has since established a following on social media.

Before realising the film had run out, she quickly became a favorite among the crowd, and she immediately took a photo of the crowd with a polaroid camera.

The top seed will face Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, who knocked out British hopeful Sonay Kartal, in the next round.

The Rod Laver Arena roof was open in time for Sabalenka’s evening match after Zheng Qinwen, her opponent in the previous year’s final, defeated Romanian qualifier Anca Todoni due to heavy rain.

Sabalenka, who had previously started her campaign in Australia as the two-time defending champion and top seed, looked in good form as she raced to a 4-0 lead at the end of her 2024 year-end world number one.

But Stephens, who has pedigree on the hard court as a former US Open champion, pegged Sabalenka back, breaking back twice for 4-3 as Sabalenka made a series of unforced errors.

Often animated on court, Sabalenka roared in frustration at each mistake, waving her arms around in exasperation.

The three-time Grand Slam champion converted her fifth break point for 5-3 and then served to take the set, which had appeared to be a straightforward opening set for her campaign.

In the second set, Sabalenka once more reclaimed her double break, allowing her to hold on to her advantage over Stephens, who hasn’t won a match since last year’s Wimbledon.