World No 5 Aryna Sabalenka was made to toil by Liudmila Samsonova before the Belarusian sealed a 7-6(8) 7-6(3) victory that secured her place in the quarterfinals of the Adelaide International 1 WTA 500 tournament on Wednesday.
Having received a bye into the second round, second seed Sabalenka started sluggishly to find herself in trouble trailing by five games to one but the 24-year-old roared back to save six set points and claim the opening set in the tie-break.
Swiatek out of WTA finals after Sabalenka defeat
Sabalenka survives scare to reach Adelaide quarters
After the pair traded breaks other early in the next set, Sabalenka showed her mental toughness again in the tie-break to seal her first win of the season in two hours and 15 minutes.
