(Melbourne) Two of the top three seeds, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka and American Coco Gauff, reached the third round of the Australian Open tennis tournament on Wednesday.

Favorite and first racket in the world, Aryna Sabalenka defeated the Chinese Bai Zhuoxuan (702^e) 6-3 and 6-1, while Gauff (third) took the measure of the Serbian Olga Danilovic (69^e) in two identical sets of 6-2.

Sabalenka won this first major tournament of the season in 2023 and 2024, but lost the final to American Madison Keys last year. She is seeking a fifth Grand Slam title, while she has also triumphed twice at the United States Open.

Gauff, for her part, wants to add a third major title to her collection. She never made it past the semi-finals in Melbourne.

Facing a tenacious opponent, Sabalenka needed seven set points to win the first set. Playing defensive tennis, Bai (702^e) made several drop shots which allowed him to prolong the match.

The Belarusian will now face the Austrian Anastasia Potapova (55^e), who eliminated the British Emma Raducanu (29^e) by virtue of a victory of 7-6 (3) and 6-2.

“I was happy to get the victory, a tough opponent,” Sabalenka commented. She really raised her game in the first set. »

Bai was entered in the main draw of this tournament for the second time in her career. She defeated Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Sunday, reaching the second round for the first time.

The Turkish Zeynep Sonmez (112^e), who had interrupted her first round match to help a ball runner, defeated the Hungarian Anna Bondar (74^e) 6-2 and 6-4.

Sonmez was playing on one of the outdoor courts on Wednesday and the stands were packed with members of Melbourne’s Turkish community.

“I really enjoyed the presence of so many Turks, it felt like home,” she said. At first, I couldn’t even hear my own thoughts. It was deafening. »

Recent winners of the Auckland and Adelaide tournaments, the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina (12^e) and the Russian Mirra Andreeva (7^e) also qualified in two rounds.