CNN
—

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka began her Australian Open title defense by beating Sloane Stephens 6-3, 6-2 in the first round on Sunday.

The Belarusian, aiming to become the first woman to win three consecutive Australian Open titles since 1999, easily defeated her American opponent before celebrating with a dance during her subsequent on-court interview.

Inspired by Sabalenka’s tradition of posting dances on TikTok at the Australian Open, interviewer Jelena Dokic encouraged the three-time Grand Slam champion to lead the audience in a dance.

As the crowd clapped and music blared, Sabalenka overcame her embarrassment and showed off her dance moves before trying to take a photo with her Polaroid camera, only to find that the film had expired.

“I’m super happy to be back. I love this place and… wow, we have a full stadium, I couldn’t ask for anything more,” said the 26-year-old.

“It was a tough game. I don’t think I played my best, but I’m glad I managed to finish this match in straight sets. It definitely feels like home.”

At first, Sabalenka simply overwhelmed Stephens, often letting the American down so she could only watch as the balls whizzed past her on the baseline, and beat her twice to take a 4-0 lead.

The first three games lasted just seven minutes and it seemed like Sabalenka would finish the game quickly. But Stephens stepped up to the plate, showing glimpses of the qualities that made her a US Open champion and unleashing a crosscourt forehand winner to reach her own break point. She converted that to gain a foothold in the set, holding serve and then breaking Sabalenka again to make it 4-3.

But Sabalenka dashed any hope of a comeback when she broke Stephens again in the longest game of the match and then held serve to win the first set.

“I think I kind of retired after a few games didn’t go well,” she said afterwards, according to WTA. “I stepped back and gave her a chance to get back into the game. I’m glad I stepped in when the score was 4-3 in this game and went forward into the net. I think that was the key to getting back into this game.”

The second set started in similar fashion as Sabalenka took the lead early and soon after consolidated her control of the game with a double break. This time Stephens couldn’t mount a comeback and Sabalenka held serve to secure the second set and the match.

Sabalenka will face Spain’s Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro in the second round and is aiming to become the first woman since Martina Hingis between 1997 and 1999 to win three consecutive titles in Melbourne.