As Aryna Sabalenka moved towards the finish line of her highly anticipated fourth round match against Belinda Bencic on Monday, she faced a perilous moment where everything could have changed. At 4-2 in the second set, having taken the first, Sabalenka fell 0-30 down on her serve.
What followed was a telling response. She landed three big first serves and a 96 mph second serve, which produced two un-returnable serves and two forehand winners. Sabalenka won four points in a row, she breezed through the rest of the match and reinforced herself as the favourite and most in-form player in the Australian Open draw with a 7-5, 6-2 win.
