Revenge was sweet for Aryna Sabalenka on Wednesday at the Adelaide International 1. The No.2 seed edged Liudmila Samsonova in a pair of tiebreaks, 7-6(8), 7-6(3), in her first official singles match of the 2023 season.

Sabalenka lost to Samsonova in November at the last WTA 1000 event of the 2022 season, the Guadalajara Open Akron, and she was in trouble in Round 2 of the first WTA 500 of 2023 when Samsonova opened up a 5-1 double-break lead in the first set in under a half hour.

But Sabalenka saved seven set points to steal the first set after nearly 80 minutes. 

Set points saved: Four came with Sabalenka serving at 5-3, and Samsonova had another on her serve at 5-4.

Samsonova had two more chances to wrap up the set in the tiebreak at 6-5 and 8-7. She turned around 3-0 and 4-1 deficits in the tiebreak and saved Sabalenka's first set point at 7-6. But she couldn't save the second at 9-8, as Sabalenka ripped a forehand return winner to put an end to proceedings.

After the pair traded breaks to start the second set, neither faced a break point in the next eight games. In a much less complicated second tiebreak, Sabalenka won the first three and last three points to wrap up the 2-hour, 15-minute affair. 

Words from the winner: When facing the big deficit, Sabalenka said she kept it simple. 

"When it's 1-5 down, it's like you have nothing to lose, and you just go for your shots without thinking," Sabalenka said in victory. "That really helped me to stay in the set, to keep fighting and to keep trying.

"Liudmila, she's an incredible player with a huge serve, so I'm super-happy with this win. She's playing unbelievable tennis and she pushed me a lot in this match."

Up next: Sabalenka will next face Marketa Vondrousova, who dropped just four games in a dominant 6-0, 6-4 win against the always-dangerous former Top 20 player Kaia Kanepi in her own second-round match. 

Highlights: Vondrousova def. Kanepi

Sabalenka is bidding for a fourth straight win against the 2019 Roland Garros finalist in their sixth overall meeting.

"She's a very tricky player, great feeling on the court, tricky shots, and she's playing unbelievable," Sabalenka said of the Czech. "I just saw her match against Kanepi and I said, 'Wow, that's going to be tough,' if I made it through this match. I'm looking forward for this match."