Aryna Sabalenka opens her Australian Open title defence with a straight-set victory over American Sloane Stephens.
Sabalenka will follow in the footsteps of Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles and Martina Hingis if she wins a third consecutive title in MelbourneLive radio commentary on Tennis Breakfast from 07:00 GMT on BBC 5 Sports Extra, plus live text commentaries on the BBC Sport website and app
The 26-year-old Belarusian is aiming to become just the seventh player to claim a third straight Australian Open women's singles title, and the first since Martina Hingis in 1999. She has also won 17 consecutive sets at Melbourne Park and is the heavy favourite for the women's title.Sabalenka entertained the Melbourne crowd with some dancing on court after the match, having built up a following on social media by posting videos of her dancing with her team on TikTok.
But Stephens, who has pedigree on the hard court as a former US Open champion, pegged Sabalenka back, breaking back twice for 4-3 as Sabalenka made a series of unforced errors.
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