Bai Zhuoxuan narrowly saved match points to defeat Pavlyuchenkova and will face world No.1 Sabalenka in the second round!

On January 18th Beijing time, during the opening day of the 2026 Australian Open, Chinese player Bai Zhuoxuan, appearing last on Kia Arena, narrowly defeated world No.47 and last year’s quarterfinalist Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(12-10), earning her first main draw win at the Australian Open and her second Grand Slam main draw victory since Wimbledon 2023.

Bai Zhuoxuan showed stronger form in the first set, breaking serve in the fifth and seventh games to lead 5-2. Pavlyuchenkova fought back with breaks and holds to close to 4-5, but Bai resisted the comeback and closed the set 6-4 with her second service game for the set. The second set was tied 2-2 after four games, then Pavlyuchenkova surged ahead with four consecutive games to even the match at 6-2.

The deciding set featured a fierce battle. Bai took an early break to gain the lead, but Pavlyuchenkova quickly leveled the score. The set progressed to a super tiebreak, where Bai missed a match point at 9-8 and saved another at 9-10, finally sealing the victory on her second match point 12-10, demonstrating her clutch resilience.

Bai Zhuoxuan entered this Australian Open main draw through protected ranking and qualifying rounds. This marks her first Grand Slam main draw appearance since returning and her second Australian Open main draw after 2024. In the second round, she will face the current world No.1 and two-time champion Sabalenka, who cruised to a 6-4, 6-1 win over French wildcard Rajona, extending her winning streak to six matches this season.

(Text and editing by Wang Fei)