Belarusian star Sabalenka is worthy of being the queen of today's world tennis tournament, and she defeated former US Open champion Stephens 6-3, 6-2 in her debut at the 2025 Australian Open, taking the first step in a strong women's singles trifecta.

Belarusian star Sabalenka

Sabalenka, who won last year's Australian Open and US Open gold cups, has extended her winning streak to 15 hard-court Grand Slams. The 26-year-old Belarusian is in fine form and is poised to continue her sweeping streak at Melbourne Park in 2023 and 2024, and will be on the hunt for victory in the southern hemisphere in the next two weeks, aiming to become the first woman to win the Australian Open three times in nearly 26 years since "Swiss Princess" Hingis in 1997-1999. Sabalenka will face 22-year-old Spanish opponent Manelo in the second round.

This is Sabalenka's first time as the top seed in a Grand Slam, facing Stephens after the 2017 US Open on the 12th, she broke 4:0 in succession, although the 31-year-old American veteran recovered three games, but now the crucial eighth game after the ball broke again, and took the lead. In the second set, Stephens was unable to resist, and was won by Sabalenka in five games in one go, and advanced in straight sets, and continued his perfect record of six consecutive wins in the new season since the Brisbane stop at the beginning of the year.