France’s Caroline Garcia aced her second-round test against Canada’s Leylah Fernandez to move into the next round of the Australian Open joined by 5th seed Aryna Sabalenka.
The No 4 seed beat the 2021 US Open finalist Fernandez 7-6(5), 7-5 inside Rod Laver Arena to reach the last 32 in Melbourne for the fifth time in her career, and the first in four years.
After a dominant 6-0, 6-3 first win against qualifier Katherine Sebov, Garcia was pushed all the way by Canada’s top-ranked player. The Frenchwoman, however, was able to hit her way out of trouble with her 40 winners, including 11 aces being more than double the winners total of Fernandez (18).
But it was not all plain sailing for Garcia who had to come back from a break down in the first set, save two break points each at 4-4 and 5-5 while also overturning a 5-2 deficit in the first-set tiebreak during her 1 hour and 52-minute win.
But her win over Fernandez also gives Garcia a simple route in the Australian Open as she is the only Top-16 left in the third quarter of the women’s singles draw.
She will take on former Top 30 player Laura Siegemund in the next round.
Meanwhile, Aryna Sabalenka looked impressive once again during her 6-3, 6-1 win over Shelby Rogers which takes her into the third round of the Australian Open for a third time on the trot.
She will now face her former regular doubles partner, No.26 seed Elise Mertens in the next round.
Karolína Plíšková, Camila Giorgi, Magda Linette and Katie Volynets were among the others to reach Australian Open’s third round.
