"I made sure Novak Djokovic's gonna finish early" - Aryna Sabalenka jokes about helping Serb in 2R by winning Australian Open match quickly

Aryna Sabalenka has joked that she has helped Novak Djokovic by winning her Australian Open match as quickly as possible.

On Wednesday, January 17, Sabalenka took on 16-year-old qualifier Brenda Fruhvirtova in the second round of the Melbourne Major. The defending champion hardly put a foot wrong throughout the contest and wrapped up the 6-3, 6-2 win in just over an hour.

After the match, Sabalenka joked that she was much nicer to Djokovic as she finished her match quickly to ensure he didn't have to wait long to play his match at the Rod Laver Arena.

She was speaking about her opening round match against Ella Seidel on Sunday, which started at 11:40 pm local time as they were waiting for Djokovic's four-hour battle with Dino Prizmic to conclude.

"Well actually, I need to ask him [for advice on how to win this tournament nine more times]. And I am much nicer to him, I didn’t play for I don’t know how many hours he played the other night. So I am nicer to him, I made sure that he’s going to finish early," she said.

"But I will ask him how to win the Australian Open nine more times. Let’s see what the advice will be, I will tell you later, if he is going to give me one," Sabalenka added.

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Aryna Sabalenka praises Brenda Fruhvirtova, will face Lesia Tsurenko in Australian Open 3R

Aryna Sabalenka in action at the 2024 Australian Open.

Despite the convincing nature of her Australian Open win against Brenda Fruhvirtova, Aryna Sabalenka praised the teenager for the level of tennis she displayed. Sabalenka said that the Czech player will reach great heights in the sport if she continues to improve and excel.

"She is doing an incredible job and I wish I was on this level when I was 16. She’s an unbelievable player and I am pretty sure that she keeps going, keeps working, she’ll be at the top very soon," she said.

The World No. 2 then expressed satisfaction with the win, stating that she focused on herself throughout the match.

"I am super happy with the win. I just tried to focus on myself and not on anything else. I just tried to fight for every point," she added.

Sabalenka will next face 28th seed Lesia Tsurenko, who defeated Rebeka Masarova 6-3, 6-4 in the second round.