Sawt Falasteen - Punishing Paolini sprints into third round at Australian Open

Paolini followed Jannik Sinner on to Melbourne Park's centre court and served notice she could match her fellow Italian's success there last year when he won his maiden Grand Slam title.

The energetic world number four was playing on Rod Laver Arena for the first time and dropped her serve in the opening game.

"I don't know why, but maybe I was nervous, you know, first time playing here and it's an amazing court," Paolini said.

The brief lapse kicked her into gear and from then on it was one-way traffic to set up a last-32 meeting with Ukraine's Elina Svitolina.

Paolini began using her quick footwork to provide a solid base for her precision groundstrokes.

She rattled off four games in a row to lead 4-1 before world number 74 Zarazua was finally able to hold her own serve.

But after an easy hold, another break gave Paolini the set in 34 minutes.

Zarazua, who is playing in only her second Australian Open, struggled to live with Paolini's speed and power.

Paolini piled on the aggression in the second set, pushing Zarazua to all parts of the court as she sped into a 4-1 lead.

But Zarazua wasn't quite finished and her never-say-die attitude enabled her to take advantage of a Paolini lapse in concentration to break back for 4-3.

The Italian gathered herself and created another break point after outlasting Zarazua in a 20-shot rally, letting out a scream as she converted for a decisive 5-3 lead before serving out for the match.

"Renata is a really tough player. The ball is coming back so many times. But I think at the end, I managed to close out the match and I'm really happy about it," said Paolini, after polishing off her opponent in 1hr 16min.

In 2024, Paolini became the first Italian woman to make the last 16 at all four Grand Slams in the Open Era and won the title in Dubai in a breakthrough season that propelled her into the top five.

She also reached maiden major finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon and she is clearly in the mood for a first grand slam title in Melbourne.

But she has a difficult draw.

Providing she gets past 28th seed Svitolina and into the second week, Paolini could potentially have 2023 finalist Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek blocking her path to the final.

G.AbuHamad--SF-PST