Belarusian
second seed Aryna Sabalenka markedly improved her service as she advanced to
the fourth round of the Australian Open with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 win over Marketa
Vondrousova of Czech Republic.

Sabalenka
had nine double faults in her first two service games and 19 overall in the second-round
win over China’s Wang Xinyu. The 23-year-old started in the same vein at the
Margaret Court Arena today, conceding two double faults and the break in the
first game.

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However,
the world number two significantly improved her service from there on – recording
10 double faults in the match – as she rallied back to win the next two sets.

“I’m really
happy right now — mostly I’m happy I made only 10 double-faults,” Sabalenka
said in her in-court interview.

Sabalenka,
who has reached two Grand Slam semifinals, admitted she has “had some trouble”
with her serve, adding “I’ll just keeping working on the serve and hope it gets
better with every match.”

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She will
face Estonian Kaia Kanepi in the fourth round.

Meanwhile, former
world number one Simona Halep reached the fourth round of the Australian Open for
a fifth consecutive year with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Montenegrin Danka Kovinic.

Kovinic was
making her first appearance in the third round of a major after ousting US Open
champion Emma Raducanu in the second round.

Halep has
won the 2018 French Open and the 2019 Wimbledon and finished runners up in the
2018 Australian Open, after losing to Caroline Wozniacki. The 30-year-old’s next
opponent will be Alize Cornet, who celebrated her 32nd birthday with a 4-6,
6-4, 6-2 victory over No. 29 Tamara Zidansek, a 2021 French Open semifinalist.

Cornet
followed up her upset of No. 3 Garbiñe Muguruza by reaching the fourth round at
the Australian Open for the first time since 2009.