BENGALURU: World number one Aryna Sabalenka enters the Australian Open in her familiar role as the hot favourite but unlike in the past two years, the powerful Belarusian arrives without a title to defend or the momentum of a winning run in Melbourne.
The two-time champion’s 20-match winning streak at the season’s opening major was snapped in the title clash 12 months ago when American outsider Madison Keys denied her a successful defence and a rare three-peat last achieved by Martina Hingis in 1999.
Sabalenka shrugged off that disappointment as well as losing in the French Open final and Wimbledon semi-finals to secure her fourth Grand Slam crown at the US Open, leaving her primed for another title tilt on the blue hard courts Down Under.