Melbourne (AFP) - Aryna Sabalenka sent down an incredible six double faults in her first service game but survived to stay alive at the Australian Open on Thursday with a gutsy three-set victory over China's Wang Xinyu.
The second seed from Belarus has struggled with her serve all season and the jitters struck again on a hot day at Rod Laver Arena.
She delivered 12 double faults in losing the first set 6-1 before finding some rhythm to grind down her 100th-ranked opponent and win the second-round encounter 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.
"I just kept telling myself I had enough shots to win the match even when I couldn't serve," she said.
"The players are getting stronger and stronger, there are no easy matches.I pushed myself really hard."
But it was another worrying performance from Sabalenka, who had a horror start to her season, self-destructing at two warm-up tournaments where she threw down 39 double faults across two games.
It got so bad that she was reduced to serving underarm and at one point breaking down in tears.
The 23-year-old looked to have regained some confidence when defeating Australian Storm Sanders in round one after getting tips from Wimbledon finalist Mark Philippoussis, who told her: "Girl, just stop thinking."
But Sabalenka, a semi-finalist at Wimbledon and the US Open last year, was again shaky.
After six double faults in her first service game and another three on her second, broken each time, she threw her racquet to the ground in frustration.
She managed to get the ball in during her third service game but then struggled from the baseline with Wang breaking again for 5-0 with a quality forehand down the line.
The second seed pulled herself together to earn a break and bring a smile to her face, but her 12th double fault handed Wang the set in 33 minutes.
Sabalenka broke Wang first up in set two then held serve for the first time and did so again to move 3-1 clear as her confidence grew.
With the fightback on, she took the set, cutting the double fault count to three, and with a new sense of urgency broke Wang early in set three before completing an unlikely comeback.
