Australian Open No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka is through to the third round after mounting a comeback against Xinyu Wang 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Sabalenka struggled through the first set, serving 12 double-faults. The next two sets she combined for just seven doubles to rally for the three set victory.
Sabalenka survives 💪 No.2 seed @SabalenkaA digs deep for a 1-6 6-4 6-2 comeback win over Xinyu Wang.#AusOpen · #AO2022🎥: @wwos · @espn · @eurosport · @wowowtennis pic.twitter.com/xo6uklNhNq— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 20, 2022
Sabalenka survives 💪 No.2 seed @SabalenkaA digs deep for a 1-6 6-4 6-2 comeback win over Xinyu Wang.#AusOpen · #AO2022🎥: @wwos · @espn · @eurosport · @wowowtennis pic.twitter.com/xo6uklNhNq
The Belarusian has had a rough start to 2022 with her serve. A combined 39 double-faults contributed to first-round losses at Adelaide tuneup events. But she said after the match that she had “a lot of experience of playing without the serve,” and she’d reassured herself between the first and second sets that she had enough other weapons to win “even if you can’t serve.”
Sabalenka will next face No. 31-seeded Marketa Vondrousova, the 2019 runner-up at Roland Garros.