Australian Open: Jabeur, Bencic advance to second round

Melbourne [Australia], January 17 (ANI): Number two seed Ons Jabeur from Tunisia advanced to the second round of the ongoing Australian Open after defeating Slovenia's Tamara Zidansek in their first-round match on Tuesday.
Jabeur reigned supreme over her opponent by 7-6(8), 4-6, 6-1 in a match that lasted two hours and 17 minutes.
"It was a very tough match," Jabeur said as quoted by ATP. "I was not playing very well, and she was putting a lot of pressure on me. She is a player that does not give up and brings every ball in, so I was getting pretty frustrated. I told myself to be No.2 in the world and just win this match," added the Tunisian.
Jabeur will face either Alison Riske-Amritraj or 2019 Roland Garros finalist Marketa Vondrousova in the second round.
On the other hand, number 10 seed Belinda Bencic from Switzerland also made it to the second round after overcoming Bulgaria's Viktoriya Tomova.
She played ruthless and powerful tennis, gaining control right from the start to win the match 6-1, 6-2. She won the match in 67 minutes. Coming to Melbourne after their seventh career title win at Adelaide, there were no signs of fatigue in Bencic.
Bencic restricted her opponent to just 11 winners, while firing 27 herself.
Earlier, No.5 seed Aryna Sabalenka extended her stellar season start, overpowering 74th-ranked Tereza Martincova to reach the second round of the 2023 Australian Open here at Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday.
Sabalenka produced a stellar performance to dispatch Martincova 6-1, 6-4 in a match that lasted 1 hour and 9 minutes.
Sabalenka, who won her 11th career title at the Adelaide International 1 just over a week ago, has started the year with a 5-0 record for the third time in the last five seasons.
When she was down break points, Sabalenka's characteristic power game was strengthened by her extreme tenacity. The World No. 5 faced four break points in the 1-1 game of the first set, but after escaping that danger, she sped through the remaining games of the opening set without dropping a game.
The same thing happened at 1-0 in the second set when she unexpectedly launched a rally forehand pass down the line to avoid another break point. Sabalenka continued to hold, then quickly won the crucial break for a 2-1 advantage and a convincing victory.
"The only thing I can say is that I'm really working hard. Physically, mentally, yes, I'm ready to go deep [in Melbourne]. Hopefully, I will do my best on the court, and I will go deep," Sabalenka said.
Elsewhere at Court 3, Leylah Fernandez got through a blockbuster first-round clash on Tuesday, when she overwhelmed the highest-ranked unseeded player, World No.34 Alize Cornet 7-5, 6-2.
Last year in Melbourne, Cornet advanced to her maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal, but this time she was defeated early by 20-year-old Fernandez, who won 62 per cent of the points by returning the second serve of Cornet.
Shelby Rogers, who defeated qualifier Arianne Hartono 6-4, 6-3 in the first round, will be a challenge for Sabalenka in the second round. Rogers has three Top 10 victories at Grand Slams, including an unexpected victory over Ashleigh Barty, the No. 1 player at the time, at the 2021 US Open. (ANI)