Aryna Sabalenka handed Lesia Tsurenko the dreaded double bagel at the Australian Open – but the scoreline did not bother the Ukrainian.
The defending champion’s 6-0 6-0 victory means she has cruised through to the fourth round in Melbourne for the loss of only six games.
At the end of the match there was no handshake, as has been standard between Ukrainian players and those from Russia and Belarus since the start of the war nearly two years ago, although the pair did both put their hands up to acknowledge each other.
“I respect everyone’s position,” said Sabalenka, who was criticised at the French Open last year for standing at the net as if waiting for a handshake she knew was not going to come from Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina.
“She was quite respectful. She said, ‘Great play’. She didn’t shake my hand, but she was respectful to me, so I appreciate that.”
Asked why she maintains the position, Tsurenko said: “This is very tough to explain, you just have to feel what I feel and you will not have these questions for me.”
The 34-year-old quickly shrugged off the scoreline, and she said: “I feel like so many things that were so important for me are not important any more, like a tennis match.
“I don’t feel like I really care about how I finish the match, what is the score. I care more about the fact I can be here and I can remind the world that the war is still on, I care about the fact that I can earn some money and I can donate and I can help other people.”
Last year in Melbourne the tournament held a prominent fundraiser for Ukraine, but the war has slipped down the tennis agenda, as Tsurenko feels it has in society generally.
“People don’t want to talk about war, people don’t want to hear bad news,” she said. “I get a lot of bad messages on social media that people are kind of annoyed if I post something.
“It seems like the whole world is tired of hearing that but unfortunately it’s still going on, it’s a part of my life and part of other Ukrainians’ life and we have to talk about it, we have to remind people about Ukraine.”
Tsurenko, meanwhile, criticised players who took part in an exhibition event in St Petersburg in December.
While it was predominantly Russian players, France’s Adrian Mannarino and Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut also played in the event, which was sponsored by Russian energy giant Gazprom.
“In my opinion the players, especially from Europe, should not take part in propaganda of the tennis federation of the aggressor country and I think they should not take part in promotion of the biggest war sponsor,” said Tsurenko.
“This is what I’ve texted to people. You’re going to promote a company that is sponsoring a bombing of my country and of my closest relatives. I want them to feel a little bit for me and for other Ukrainians.
“Especially when that exhibition was on, there was heavy bombings and my sister was very stressed. It is very painful for me but people don’t understand.”
Sabalenka moves forward to a last-16 clash with American Amanda Anisimova, who is resurgent having missed the majority of last season for mental health reasons.
A chaotic Thursday saw Elena Rybakina, the player Sabalenka beat to win the title 12 months ago, and fifth seed Jessica Pegula lose, while Iga Swiatek survived a major scare against Danielle Collins.
Sabalenka has had no such worries, and she said: “Last year Iga won so many sets 6-0 and this is one of the goals, to get closer to her. I’m just really happy with the level.”
Fourth seed Coco Gauff has also been in impressive form and she eased to a 6-0 6-2 victory over fellow American Alycia Parks.
Anisimova, meanwhile, beat another player on the comeback trail in Spain’s Paula Badosa 7-5 6-4 despite battling stomach cramps.
“I’m really proud of myself,” said Anisimova, who first made the fourth round here five years ago as a 17-year-old.
“I wasn’t sure should I expect to do well because a lot of people were telling me, ‘Don’t put too much expectations on yourself’. I’m just really happy that I was able to get this far, but I still think that I can do more.”
Djokovic recovers from slow start to move past Michelsen on Shanghai return
Novak Djokovic marked his Shanghai Masters return with a hard-fought straight-sets win over Alex Michelsen.
The four-time champion, who is appearing in this event for the first time since 2019, required two tie-breaks before prevailing 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (11-9) in just under two hours.
Djokovic, still donning a protective sleeve over his right knee, made a slow start in only his second match since losing to Alexei Popyrin in the US Open third round, winning just four points in the first three games as he fell 4-1 behind.
However, the 24-time major winner broke back in the seventh game before dominating the tie-break for first blood.
Roles were reversed in the second set as Michelsen cancelled out an earlier break in game seven.
However, the American squandered two set points to level and was eventually punished by Djokovic, who will play either 28th seed Flavio Cobolli or three-time major winner Stan Wawrinka in the next round.
Data Debrief: Djokovic continues American dominance
Djokovic was given an early scare, but his experience eventually showed as he came through.
Including team events, the Serb has now won his last 33 ATP-level matches against American opponents, with his last such defeat coming against Sam Querrey at Wimbledon in 2016.
The 24-time major winner also demonstrated his determination when the pressure intensified, and he has now come through 12 of his 16 tie-breaks played this season.
Gauff fights back to beat Badosa in China Open semi-finals
Coco Gauff recovered from a set and a break down to reach the China Open final with a 4-6 6-4 6-2 victory over Paula Badosa on Saturday.
Having given up an early break in the opener, Gauff got one of her own by converting her eighth break point in a mammoth eighth game featuring 10 deuces, only for Badosa to hit back immediately to go a set up.
Gauff lost serve immediately in the second set to go on the back foot, only to level the match with back-to-back breaks, the second of them to love.
The decider began with a series of breaks, Gauff taking two of them as the momentum swung her way, then she protected her lead all the way to reach her first final since winning January's Auckland Open.
The 20-year-old is the youngest player to reach the women's singles final at the China Open since Caroline Wozniacki in 2010.
She has fought from a set down to win in each of her last three matches, the first time she has done so in her career. She is the first player to do so in WTA-1000 events since Iga Swiatek at Indian Wells 2022.
Data Debrief: Gauff brings up century
Saturday's match was Gauff's 100th at WTA 1000-level events, and her 67th such victory.
Among American players, only Serena Williams (87), Venus Williams and Jessica Pegula (70) have bettered her 67 wins through their first 100 matches at such events.
Alcaraz beats home favourite Shang in Shanghai opener
Carlos Alcaraz began his Shanghai Open campaign with a straight-sets win over China's Shang Juncheng, bringing up his 10th straight victory.
Just three days on from his epic victory over Jannik Sinner in the China Open final, Alcaraz recorded a 6-2 6-2 win over Shang inside one hour and 17 minutes.
The four-time grand slam winner wasted no time by breaking in the very first game of the encounter, then repeated the trick six games later to take the opener, avoiding any pressure as he won 82% of his first-serve points.
Alcaraz produced the shot of the match early in the second set, producing a brilliant backhand flick to salvage a point while backtracking from the net.
Back-to-back breaks midway through the second set sealed Alcaraz's 10th straight victory, after which he hailed the performance of his 19-year-old opponent.
"I'm not used to playing against players younger than me," Alcaraz said. "He has been playing good tennis lately, winning his first ATP title [in Chengdu], so I'm pretty sure he's going to climb the rankings.
"At the net he told me that it's a pleasure share the court with you. So these kinds of things that I hear from younger players, it's great."
Data Debrief: Double figures for Alcaraz
Alcaraz's victory was his 10th in succession since he suffered a shock second-round defeat to Botic van de Zandschulp at the US Open in August.
He will face another Chinese player in the next round, taking on world number 560 Wu Yibing.
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