By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday January 20, 2023
Aryna Sabalenka and Belinda Bencic will head into their round of 16 clash with perfect records.
Photo Source: Getty
Between them in 2023 there are 14 victories, a title each, and a waltz into the round of 16 at the Australian Open without the loss of a set.
But something will soon have to give, as Aryna Sabalenka and Belinda Bencic, two of the hottest players on tour in the nascent 2023 season, will meet in a heavily anticipated round of 16 clash in Melbourne.
Both took care of business swiftly on Saturday, Bencic, the 12th seed, dispatching Italy’s Camila Giorgi 6-2, 7-5, while Sabalenka, the No.5 seed, eliminated her former doubles partner Elise Mertens behind a barrage of winners, 6-2, 6-3.
An upbeat Bencic didn’t seem to be particularly impressed by herself after Saturday’s triumph. She spoke like a player who expects to win – and win some more next week.
“Feels very good, of course,” she said. “But it's three wins now. It's some good wins. But still, you know, I'm going further. I'm ready for that.”
Bencic and Sabalenka have split two previous meetings but the pair have not met since 2019.
So much has changed in their respective careers since then that it’s difficult to project what will happen when they lock horns for a third time on Monday?
The explosive Sabalenka says taking the first strike is key to control against Bencic, one of the best in the world at straddling the baseline and taking the ball on the rise to rob reaction time from opponents.
"I think it's about first few shots," Sabalenka said. "Like, I feel like I have to stay really aggressive in the first few shots, and then the easy, like -- how to say -- slower ball or shorter ball will come."
"So I think it's all about fast feet on the first few shots. I have to be like really a tiger, like ready, stay low and ready for that."
Sabalenka, who worked her way through a roller coaster 2022 season that was marred by serving woes, has come out of the woods and into smoothly sailed through her competition in 2023.
She spent countless hours working on – and thinking about how to improve – her serve last season, and clearly the time was well spent.
She led the tour in double faults last season with 428, but the second serve has not been an issue this year. She has won 37 of 64 second serve points in three rounds in Melbourne, and served just seven double-faults.
Bencic had a solid 2022 season but didn’t perform well at the Slams. The Swiss didn’t get past round three in any of the four majors last season, but she’s hoping that her recently formed partnership with highly respected coach Dmitry Tursunov, the former coach of Sabalenka and also Anett Kontaveit, will help her thrive.
The Swiss admits Tursunov, a former Top-20 ATP player from Russia, can be demanding, but she says she enjoys that aspect of their rapport.
“He's definitely a very tough coach, for sure,” she said. “He just really tells you what you need to hear, and sometimes you really need to hear the uncomfortable stuff.
“That's really what I'm looking for. I'm trying to improve everything.”
Bencic says she prefers not to be treated with kid gloves, because it can mean a rude awakening when transitioning from the practice court to the match court.
“He just pushes me a lot, so it puts me out of my comfort zone,” she said. “So I don't feel like, ‘Oh, I'm playing so well in practice, everything is great.’ Then I come to the match, and you know in the match you're also out of your comfort zone.”
Sabalenka had a very productive multiple year relationship with Tursunov and the pair were emotionally connected, which made the parting difficult. But it has been several years and shouldn’t play too much into the dynamic of the match.
What will be important is how Bencic can counter the pace and power of Sabalenka.
The subtext to this compelling clash, of course, is coach Tursunov, who knows Sabalenka so well, and has enjoyed a productive partnership with Bencic so far.
Olympic gold-medal champion Bencic will be sure to ask her coach for a few tips on how to derail Sabalenka’s menacing game.
“Of course Sabalenka is a very aggressive player, has a lot of power,” she said. “Dmitry was her coach before, so he can help me a lot, I hope.”