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Sabalenka survives serve yips at the Open

Darren WaltonAAP
Aryna Sabalenka has battled her way into the Australian Open third round in Melbourne.
Camera IconAryna Sabalenka has battled her way into the Australian Open third round in Melbourne. Credit: AP

World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka has overcome an extraordinary bout of the serving yips to clamour into the Australian Open third round in Melbourne.

Sabalenka coughed up 19 double-faults, including five in the opening game of the match, in a jaw-dropping 1-6 6-4 6-2 win over world No.100 Xinyu Wang on Thursday.

"Well, I already had a lot of experience playing without the serve and I always keep telling myself that 'you have enough shots to still win the match even when you cannot serve'," Sabalenka said.

"So I think this kind of mentality helped me stay in the game and find my serve."

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After escaping with a tight three-set first-round win over Australian wildcard Storm Sanders on Tuesday, Sabalenka revealed former Wimbledon finalist Mark Philippoussis had been assisting her with serving.

But it certainly didn't look like it against Wang.

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The Belarusian spent much of the match screaming and gesturing to her courtside box as she lost all rhythm and confidence.

The second seed had to break Wang in the sixth game just to avoid a first-set bagel.

But three more double-faults followed in the next game as Sabalenka surrendered the set in 33 minutes.

Limiting her doubles to three in the second set, Sabalenka fought back to level the match at a set apiece.

Despite being broken three times and committing four more double-faults in the deciding set, Sabalenka somehow prevailed after one hour and 54 minutes to stay in the hunt for a maiden grand slam title.

The 23-year-old is seeded to meet Australia's world No.1 Ash Barty in the final.

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