Friday, January 23, 2026

AO26 - Aryna in the Arena

There are quite a few unknowables when it comes to any WTA match, wherever and whenever it might be played. But what we do know with a high degree of certainty is that, if you're on the opposite side of the net from Aryna Sabalenka, you most definitely do not want to get involved in the sort of contest that might come down to having to face off with the world #1 in a tie-break. And if *multiple* tie-breaks are involved, well, so sorry and better luck next time.



Unfortunately for her, that precise scenario played out for Anastasia Potapova in her 3rd Rounder vs. Sabalenka on Friday at Rod Laver Arena. Against almost anyone else, she very well might have won to advance to her first career AO Round of 16, but instead she ended up going out in straight sets. Essentially, she played the "Kostyuk role" in the Sabalenka oeuvre, and that's never worked out very well for Ms.Marta.

So in a way Potapova found herself copying-and-pasting another player's performance and claiming it as her own on this day. Hmmm, yeah, that tracks.

The match teetered back and forth when it came to momentum, with Potapova rising to the occasion while Sabalenka fired off both winners and unforced errors with near uniformity (well, actually her UEs led in the end, 44-34). In the opening set, the two exchanged breaks early, and Sabalenka failed to take advantage of a love/40 lead on return at 6-5. With Potapova completing the ninth straight hold of serve in the set, things went to a breaker.

It would be Sabalenka's first TB of the new season (after winning her first 14 sets of '26 with relative ease), following her historic run of success in them in '25. Last year, she went 22-2 and at one point won a record 19 consecutive tie-breaks before Jessie Pegula managed to end the steak in Wuhan. Funny thing, though, Sabalenka's season *ended* with her stunning defeat in a match-closing TB loss to Elena Rybakina in the title match at the WTA Finals. Rybakina, somehow and some way, won that breaker by a 7-0 score, then dropped the mic and strolled into the offseason.

So how Sabalenka would respond in her first TB since then brought a bit of intrigue into the mix. But, have no fear, she took a quick 3-0, double-break lead in the breaker, then gave back consecutive points on her own serve, but only allowed Potapova one more point on her final four serves, winning 7-4.



In the 2nd, Sabalenka raced out to a 4-0 lead and seemed ready to cruise into the second week. But Potapova bounced back to knot the set a 4-all. After dropping serve, she denied Sabalenka as she served for the match, then held to take a 6-5 lead.



If the new Austrian knew what was good for her, and she likely did, Potapova would have done *anything* to break Sabalenka to claim the set. But that didn't happen. Sabalenka held at love, and one might say that Potapova's fate, however it might come about, was just about sealed.

Sabalenka opened the 2nd set TB with a handful of errors that played a large part in Potapova taking the lead and stretching it to 6-3. With the set on her racket, though, Potapova dropped back-to-back points, then double-faulted on SP #3 as Sabalenka suddenly pulled even at 6-6. Another Sabalenka forehand error gave Potapova a fourth SP, but it also went by the wayside. Finally, Sabalenka put away a shot at the net to reach her own MP at 8-7. A Potapova error ended it, as Sabalenka prevailed 7-6(4)/7-6(7).



The top seed and two-time AO champ (and new Gucci global ambassador, so I guess that offseason exhibition has officially paid for itself), Sabalenka has now won 39 consecutive 1r-through-3r slam matches, is through to the 4th Round in Melbourne for a sixth straight time and for the 13th time in her last 13 majors (and 16 of 17).

Sabalenka has won 23 of 24 matches in Melbourne since 2023, is 41-2 in her last 43 in Australia, and 42-2 in hard court majors over the last four seasons, reaching the finals of the last six (going 4-2).

So, you know, none of what we've seen so far is anywhere near unexpected.









=AO NOTES=
...meanwhile, in an increbibly intriguing *3rd* Round match-up, #17 Victoria Mboko and #14 Clara Tauson faced off for a berth in what would be a maiden AO Round of 16 for the winner. As it turned out, "Mbokomania!" moved one step closer to full activation Down Under, while the Dane once again came *close* to what would have been one of her signature wins only to come up just short.



After taking a 4-2 lead in the 1st, Mboko saw Tauson battle back to get things on serve and, ultimately, into a TB. There, again, it was Mboko who surged ahead (5-2) only to see her lead erased (5-5), but the 19-year old Canadian didn't led the set slip away as she claimed the final two points of the breaker to win 7-5.

Tauson opened the 2nd with a break and held for 2-0, but this time it was Mboko who staged the comeback. She served for the win at 5-3, but was broken at love. Still, Mboko soon had opportunities from 15/40 up in consecutive Tauson service games, holding five total BP (three of them MP at 5-4) as the Dane hit her way out of trouble, serving out the set at 7-5 as she swept the final four games.



Mboko grabbed the early 3-1 lead in the 3rd set, and this time prevented Tauson from storming back, finishing off a 7-6(5)/5-7/6-3 victory with a backhand volley to reach the her first career slam second week in her debut AO appearance (and fourth major MD overall). The two combined for 61 winners on the day.



Next up for the 19-year old? Sabalenka, with another (maybe even bigger) star turn for Mboko squarely on the face of her racket.

...everybody still loves Zeynep, but the run of the qualifier ended on Day 6 with Sonmez coming up short of becoming the first Turk to reach the Round of 16 at a major with a three-set loss to Yulia Putintseva.

Putintseva had raced out to a 6-3/3-1 lead, and served for a straight sets win at 6-5. But Sonmez broke to force a TB, winning it 7-3 to take things to a 3rd. Putintseva pulled away there to reach her very first AO 4th Round (in her 14th try!), completing a Career Round of 16 Slam at age 31 in her 48th major MD appearance.

As usual, in the end, Putintseva was all about winning over new fans to her side. She just can't help herself...



Here she was after her 1st Round match...



Putintseva is gonna Putintseva.

...later, #3 Coco Gauff overcame a slow start to outpace Hailey Baptiste 3-6/6-3/6-0 to reach the second week at a major for the ninth time in the last ten, and 12 of 14. She'll meet #19 Karolina Muchova, who continued her quick '26 start with a 1 & 1 win over Magda Linette.

The Czech got a pair of Top 10 wins in Brisbane in Week 1, matching her career-best January feat from 2021. In that season Muchova went on to reach the AO semis, by far her career best result in Melbourne (before this week her other results had been 1r/2r exits, sprinkled around two DNP due to injury over the past seven years). After failing to get her third Top 10 win of '26 in Brisbane (vs. Sabalenka in the SF), Muchova gets another shot at a third such season win vs. the #3 seed.

Wins from #29 Iva Jovic and #8 Mirra Andreeva during the night season pushed the total number of teens in the final eight in the top half to three, with two more (w/ both Valentova and Bartunkova in action) in the bottom half of the draw with chances to reach the Round of 16.



18-year old Jovic, the youngest player in the Top 100, upset the highest-ranked seed to fall so far, #7 Jasmine Paolini, in straight sets for her first career Top 10 win and maiden slam 4th Round berth (she'll see Putintseva next), while #8 Andreeva finished up play on Laver with her own two-set victory over Gabriela Ruse, her third straight in Melbourne. Her win means Hordettes have reached the second week at 88 of the last 99 eligible majors.

Andreeva will next face #12 Elina Svitolina, who knocked off the teenager's doubles partner, #23 Diana Shnaider, today. Auckland champ Svitolina is 8-0 on the season.

...and to close out the Melbourne Open 1000 wheelchair event, Yui Kamiji easily handled countrywoman Manami Tanaka in a 6-1/6-1 final to win her second singles title of the year (w/ Sydney 500). She'll next try to defend her AO crown.





...AGREEING WITH MARTINA AND LINDSAY on Day 6:

I don't think Osaka did anything with specifically malicious intent, and Cirstea isn't a stranger to complaining, but she also had every reason to be upset (as much with the chair umpire for not saying anything as much as anything else) and Osaka can't *not* know that an opponent isn't going to like her yelling "come on!" *between first and second serves*.

The stunned face act doesn't work a decade into a career.




...AN EVEN BETTER ANGLE ON THE MOST AWKWARD POINT OF THE TOURNAMENT on Day 6:











=WOMEN'S SINGLES ROUND OF 16=
#1 Aryna Sabalenka/BLR vs. #17 Victoria Mboko/CANx
Yulia Putintseva/KAZ vs. #29 Iva Jovic/USA
#3 Coco Gauff/USA vs. #19 Karolina Muchova/CZE
#12 Elina Svitolina/UKR vs. #8 Mirra Andreeva/RUS
x vs. x
x vs. x
x vs. x
x vs. x






























kosova-font

**"CAREER SLAM" FEATS IN 2020s**
=ROUND OF 16=
2020 US - Alize Cornet, FRA (57th slam MD)
2021 AO - Donna Vekic, CRO (29th)
2021 US - Iga Swiatek, POL (11th)
2022 AO - Barbora Krejcikova, CZE (8th)
2022 AO - Kaia Kanepi, EST (53rd)
2022 US - Caroline Garcia, FRA (42nd)
2022 US - Coco Gauff, USA (13th)
2022 US - Ons Jabeur, TUN (22nd)
2022 US - Zhang Shuai, CHN (41st)
2023 RG - Karolina Muchova, CZE (17th)
2023 RG - Aryna Sabalenka, BLR (21st)
2023 WI - Jessie Pegula, USA (19th)
2023 WI - Marketa Vondrousova, CZE (21st)
2023 US - Alona Ostapenko, LAT (31st)
2024 WI - Danielle Collins, USA (27th)
2024 US - Paula Badosa, ESP (19th)
2024 US - Jasmine Paolini, ITA (20th)
2025 AO - Dasha Kasatkina, RUS (36th)
2025 AO - Emma Navarro, USA (9th)
2025 US - Amanda Anisimova, USA (23rd)
2025 US - Elena Rybakina, KAZ (25th)
2026 AO - Yulia Putintseva, KAZ (48th)





kosova-font

Jack Smith: "My fear is that we have seen the rule of law function in our country for so long that many of us have come to take it for granted. The rule of law is not self-executing. It depends on our collective commitment to apply it."

[image or embed]

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) January 22, 2026 at 10:33 AM


kosova-font

James Gillray's 1805 cartoon of Napoleon and Pitt carving up the plum pudding–world for dinner echoes now. Just replace it with Trump and his master Putin.

[image or embed]

— Denise Wheeler (@denisedwheeler.bsky.social) January 22, 2026 at 5:38 AM

WW2 version:

[image or embed]

— jaimi.bsky.social (@jaimi.bsky.social) January 22, 2026 at 5:41 AM


kosova-font


kosova-font









TOP QUALIFIER: Guiomar Maristany/ESP
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): #6 Jessie Pegula/USA (lost 5 games in 1r/2r)
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): x
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): x
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q2 - Guiomar Maristany/ESP def. Tatiana Prozorova/RUS 6-2/2-6/7-6(10-7) - saved four MP (at 6-5 in the 3rd), reached maiden slam MD
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 1st Rd. - Elsa Jacquemot/FRA def. #20 Marta Kostyuk/UKR 6-7(4)/7-6(4)/7-6(10-7) - 3:31; first three-TB women's match at AO; Jacquemot saves MP in 2nd set, wins 10-7 MTB in 3rd for first Top 20 win
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): x
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F/WC/Doub.): x
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: (WC) Talia Gibson/AUS (def. Anna Blinkova/RUS)
FIRST SEED OUT: #26 Dayana Yastremska, UKR (1r- lost to Gabriela Ruse/ROU)
FIRST SLAM MD WINS: Nikola Bartunkova/CZE (1st slam MD), Linda Klimovicova/POL (1st), Petra Marcinko/CRO (1st), Taylah Preston/AUS (3rd), Oksana Selekhmeteva/RUS (5th)
PROTECTED RANKING BEST: in 3r: Pliskova/CZE
LUCKY LOSER BEST: 0-1 in 1r
UPSET QUEENS: The Crush of Czechs
REVELATION LADIES: Australia (6 in 2r most since 1992)
NATION OF POOR SOULS: Russia (4-5 1st Rd.; only 9 in MD after AO-best 9 to 2r in '25; has lost 7 notable players to other nations since '23; lost 2 Top 20 seeds)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: in 3r: Inglis/AUS, Sonmez/TUR (L), Bartunkova/CZE
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Talia Gibson/AUS, Priscilla Hon/AUS and Taylah Preston/AUS (all 2nd Rd.)
LAST AUSSIE STANDING: Maddison Inglis (in 3r)
Ms. OPPORTUNITY: x
IT (?): Nominee: Zeynep Sonmez (Turk), teens
COMEBACK PLAYER: Nominee: Pliskova/CZE
CRASH & BURN: Nominees: first two seeds out are UKR (Yastremska/Kostyuk) in back-to-back ANZ Arena matches on Day 1
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF MELBOURNE: Nominees: Siegemund (down 6-0/5-2 vs. Samsonova in 1r; saved 2 MP 5-3, then down 3-1 in 3rd); Inglis (back-to-back 3-hour wins in 1r/2r)
KIMIKO VETERAN CUP: Nominee: Venus Williams/USA (at 45 years and 7 months, breaks 2015 record of Kimiko Date as the oldest woman in an AO singles MD match)
LADY OF THE EVENING: Nominees: Sabalenka, Osaka
AUSTRALIAN LANGUAGE ARTS AWARD: ["Show Pony Fashion Sense"] Naomi Osaka's jellyfish-inspired, "My Fair Lady" nighttime intro outfit
DOUBLES STAR: x
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: x






All for now. More soon.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 8:33 AM 

1 Comments:

Blogger Diane said...

Just the sight of Diana Ross & the Supremes or the Shangri-Las gives me that electric body charge. Hearing either group is as thrilling now as it was way back then.

Toward the end of my career, a client asked me who I thought was the greatest girl group of all time, and I said that I couldn't answer because it was a clear tie between those two groups. She gave me this blank look and then said, "I assumed you were going to say Destiny's Child."

Fri Jan 23, 10:01:00 AM EST  

Post a Comment

<< Home