Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus reacts during her second round match against Bai Zhuoxuan of China at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

MELBOURNE, Australia — Top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka defeated a tenacious Bai Zhouxuan of China 6-3, 6-1 early today to reach the third round of the Australian Open.

Sabalenka raced to a 5-0 lead in the first set but then needed seven set points at Rod Laver Arena to take the set against the defensive-minded Chinese player, who used clever drop shots to help her stay in the match.

“I was happy to get this win, a tricky opponent,” Sabalenka said. “She really stepped in in the first set.”

Sabalenka led 4-0 in the second set and overpowered the smaller Bai. Sabalenka even tried a bit of serve-and-volley in the match, trying to diversify her game.

“You saw serve-and-volley today,” Sabalenka said. “It didn’t really work well, but I did one.”

Sabalenka won the 2023 and 2024 Australian Open titles but was the runner-up a year ago to Madison Keys. Sabalenka is after her fifth Grand Slam singles title, having also won the U.S. Open twice.

Bai was making her second appearance in the Australian Open and reached the second round for the first time.

In another women’s match, 12th-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine defeated Linda Klimovicova of Poland 7-5, 6-1. Gael Monfils, a popular 39-year-old Frenchman and Svitolina’s husband, said goodbye at Melbourne Park in his retirement year, losing on Tuesday in a first-round match to qualifier Dane Sweeny.

Also, Zeynep Sönmez of Turkey advanced to the third round after beating Anna Bondar 6-2, 6-4.