Sonay Kartal will be hoping her fellow debutant might suffer from a few nerves in trying to close this out.

A slight opening at 15-30 is exactly the sort of opportunity the Briton must now start pouncing upon, but Kartal is able to respond to a couple of forehand winners by the Spaniard to force deuce.

The chance is still there.

Got it. All of a sudden things don't look quite so bleak for Sloane Stephens as she turns the tables on Aryna Sabalenka with a bit more confidence and front-footed tennis.

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Daniela Hantuchova
Former world number five on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

This game is showing why Aryna Sabalenka is number one in the world.

Stephens had those game points because Sabalenka suddenly started to rush and overhit it, but she reacted to that straightaway.

She understands what is going wrong for her, whereas three or four years ago it would have taken her three or four games to realise what was going wrong.

It's going to be tough for Stephens to find a way in this first set.

Better from Sloane Stephens!

With a bit more aggression, she manages to work herself two break points and a chance to cancel out one of those Aryna Sabalenka breaks.

Sonay Kartal needs to hold serve here to extend her Australian Open debut even by a few more minutes as Jessica Bouzas Maneiro moves ever closer to victory.

And credit to her, the Briton holds firm to stay within one break of serve in this second set.

There's still a sense of inevitability about this result, but you just never know...

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Sloane Stephens saves break point as Aryna Sabalenka drags her forehand wide but the Belarusian gets lucky with the net cord and brings up another break point opportunity.

Stephens fires into the net as she desperately tries to combat the power coming from the racquet of the defending champion and that's the double break for Sabalenka.

Jonathan Jurejko
BBC Sport in Melbourne

What can Kartal do against this onslaught? Not a lot it seems.

Bouzas Maneiro continues to knock lumps out of the ball, leading to winners off both flanks.

Kartal’s strongest weapon is her forehand but that’s having little effect and her backhand is being severely punished by her opponent.

Sonay Kartal has not allowed her head to drop despite the run of games against her. Now, can she begin a fightback?

The Briton creates an opportunity by reaching 0-30 on Jessica Bouzas Maneiro's serve but the Spaniard reels off four successive points to continue her march towards the second round.

A first real mistake from Aryna Sabalenka as she sends one out of bounds but she recovers with a glorious backhand which kisses the line and Sloane Stephens can't get to it.

A hold here for Stephens feels crucial otherwise this match could be over fairly quickly but another couple of mistakes from the American send us to deuce then hand Sabalenka a break point.

Sonay Kartal carefully watches an overhead and makes no mistake as she deservedly takes the opening point in her latest service game.

Can she give herself something to build on here?

The Briton gets a couple of points ahead for the first time in a long, long time in this match and manages to get a game - but Jessica Bouzas Maneiro makes her work every step of the way.

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Daniela Hantuchova
Former world number five on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

It is fine to make mistakes at the beginning of a first-round Grand Slam match, but it is the way Stephens is making the mistakes right now. It seems like she is not moving at all.

When you are playing the best player in the world, you have to come out jumping around and full of energy. I just don't see any of that right now from Stephens.

Sloane Stephens drops her head as she pumps another forehand into the net and Aryna Sabalenka makes it three games in a row in this opening set.

The Belarusian finished as the year-end world number one for the first time in 2024 but she's showing zero signs of the pressure you might expect to come with that.

Jessica Bouzas Maneiro has now won 21 of the last 27 points as she holds serve to love to back up that break and make it nine games in a row against Sonay Kartal.

An impressive display by the 22-year-old Spaniard. Kartal can do little to slow her opponent down here.

A dream start for the defending champion Aryna Sabalenka.

No signs of pressure here as she breaks Sloane Stephens at the first opportunity.

Image source, Getty Images

Aryna Sabalenka is gifted a break point as Sloane Stephens skews her forehand wide.

This already feels like a crucial game for Stephens but she is struggling against the power of the Belarusian at the moment.

This is getting tough for Sonay Kartal. Jessica Bouzas Maneiro is playing some great stuff and offering the Briton little hope of gaining a foothold.

Dictating another rally, the Spaniard pops away another winner for a break of serve in set two.

Jessica Bouzas Maneiro is threatening to end Sonay Kartal's Australian Open debut very quickly here.

The Spaniard is dominating the longer rallies and a superb backhand down the line brings up two break points.

A no-nonsense opening service game for Aryna Sabalenka.

The top seed dictates the points from the baseline and Sloane Stephens had no response for some of those big powerful serves.

Jonathan Jurejko
BBC Sport in Melbourne

Well, that was pretty impressive from Bouzas Maneiro.

She was unfazed by Kartal’s spin, able to deal with that efficiently and quickly get on top of the rallies.

The Spaniard won 29 of the 44 points in a one-sided opening set.

Kartal chomps on a banana at the changeover as she contemplates how to turn this around.

Jessica Bouzas Maneiro reached the third round at both Wimbledon and the US Open last year - her best performances at a major since making her debut at Wimbledon in 2023.

The Spaniard is showing she is in great shape at the start of her first Australian Open and holds serve to begin the second set for a seventh successive game in this contest.