Sabalenka starts bid for third straight Australian Open title with win while Habib makes history for Lebanon

Top seed beats Sloane Stephens in straight sets as world No 219 soaks up applause at Melbourne Park

Aryna Sabalenka after her Australian Open first-round win over Sloane Stephens at Melbourne Park. EPA

World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka started her quest for a third Australian Open crown in a row with a straight-sets victory over Sloane Stephens at Melbourne Park on Sunday.

Heavy rain washed out much of the opening day meaning that only the matches scheduled on Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena and John Cain Arena – all of which have a roof – could be played.

Eight of the 32 scheduled singles matches were scratched and organisers will be giving thanks for the cushion of the extra day that was first added to the tournament last year.

Sabalenka survived an early wobble to beat Stephens 6-3, 6-2 as the Belarusian looks to become the first player since Martina Hingis in 1999 to secure the three-peat at the season-opening Grand Slam.

She will join a select group of women consisting of only Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles and Hingis to do so.

Sabalenka raced into a 4-0 lead before a series of unforced errors allowed the 31-year-old American to break back twice for 4-3.

The lapses fired up Sabalenka who changed her racquet and became more aggressive.

She created a succession of break points before finally converting on the fifth to move 5-3 ahead and then served out to take the set in 38 minutes.

Stephens, now ranked 84th, has a poor record in Melbourne, losing in the first round on four of her previous five appearances.

A double break took Sabalenka to 5-1 in the second set and she completed the win in 1hr 11 min, meaning she has now won 28 of her last 29 matches in hard court Slams since the start of 2023, including 15 consecutive matches at the Australian Open.

“I'm super happy to be back. I love this place and we have a full stadium, I couldn't dream for more,” said Sabalenka, who will take on Spain's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in the next round.

“It was a tough match. They are always tough matches against her. I don't feel like I played my best probably but I'm glad that I managed to close this match in straight sets.

“It definitely feels like home.”

Olympic gold medallist Zheng Qinwen, who lost to Sabalenka in last year's final, started her tournament with a 7-6, 6-1 victory over Romanian qualifier Anca Todoni.

Zheng looked in complete control serving for the set at 5-4 and leading 40-0 only for Todoni to win five points in a row.

The Romanian then held three set points with Zheng serving at 5-6 but could not take any of them and things were comfortable for the fifth seed thereafter.

“The first match is always not easy,” said Zheng in her on-court interview. “She's playing really good but I was doing a bit stupid mistakes at 5-4, 40-0, I don't know what happened there.”

Teenager Mirra Andreeva could be a factor come the latter stages of the tournament and she began strongly with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Marie Bouzkova.

The 17-year-old reached the French Open semi-finals last year, a run that included victory over Sabalenka in the last eight at Roland Garros.

In the men's draw, Hady Habib's history-making run at the Australian Open will continue after the first man to represent Lebanon in a Grand Slam singles tournament in the Open era became the first to win a match.

The 26-year-old Habib won three matches in the qualifying rounds just to get into the field of 128 players and he will now be one of the 64 to make it into the second round after defeating Bu Yunchaokete of China 7-6, 6-4, 7-6.

Habib, the world No 219, soaked up wild cheers from a rowdy crowd packing the small terraces on Melbourne Park's Court 13.

With fans chanting his name, the Texas-born 26-year-old raised his racquet to the crowd and held up a Lebanese flag after claiming the decisive tiebreak.

He represented his country at the Paris Olympics last year, losing to four-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz in the first round.

"It's a huge win," said Habib. "Especially what we've been going through as a country.

"To bring something positive, especially we've been having a rough time with obviously the war.

"We had our other issues in the past. It's just nice to get this win for Lebanon and for the people."

Germany's Alexander Zverev eased past Lucas Pouille of France in straight sets.

The second seed impressed as he triumphed 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 and will now face Pedro Martinez in the second round.

Sixth seed Casper Ruud eventually sealed his spot in the next round after overcoming Spain's Jaume Munar 6-3, 1-6, 7-5, 2-6, 6-1.

Kei Nishikori also come through a five-setter as he fought back from two sets down and saved two match points on the way to beating qualifier Thiago Monteiro 4-6, 6-7, 7-5, 6-2, 6-3.