World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka dropped the first game Thursday at the Brisbane International, then came back to win 12 straight in defeating Zhu Lin 6-1, 6-0.

It was the 13th consecutive victory for Sabalenka in Australia. She’s 4-0 against the No.15-seeded Zhu and will next meet Daria Kasatkina in Friday's quarterfinals. 

“Yeah, it’s been an amazing tournament for me,” Sabalenka said in her on-court interview. “Of course I’m super happy with the level, with the win today. I feel I’m going to do really well here.”

In her first two matches of the year, Sabalenka has looked exceedingly sharp. The 25-year-old has produced a total of 17 aces, three doubles faults and has converted 10 of 16 break points.

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The first game was a nine-minute marathon, won by Zhu on her third break point when Sabalenka’s backhand soared long. Sabalenka, who landed only three of 12 first serves, was visibly frustrated. Zhu thus equaled the total number of games she had taken in her last match with Sabalenka, in 2019 at Strasbourg.

But Sabalenka broke back immediately and began to look like the player who wrested the No.1 ranking from Iga Swaitek after last year’s US Open.

Up 3-0 in the second set, Sabalenka saved two break points, one with an ace, and prevailed in the longest game of the match.

The match time was 69 minutes and Sabalenka has dropped only four games.

Sabalenka is playing fast and free -- and it probably goes back to what happened Down Under a year ago. She was 11-0, winning titles in Adelaide and her first major in Melbourne.

“I have really amazing, amazing memories from last year,” she said before the tournament. I really did a great job in the pre-season, make sure I have chances to replicate the same results I did last season.”

She and her team focused first on fitness and second on making her serve more consistent. This loaded Brisbane draw, starting with Friday’s quarterfinals, should give us an immediate sense of where her game is.

The top three seeds are all through and half of the eight players remaining have won at least one Grand Slam singles title. If form holds, it would be the two Australian Open finalists from a year ago facing off in the final.

Earlier, No.2 Elena Rybakina defeated Elise Mertens 6-1, 6-0 in a match that required less than an hour. Rybakina, 2-0 on the new year, was nearly flawless, winning 56 of 84 points and breaking Mertens’ serve five times.

Highlights: Rybakina d. Mertens | Potapova d. Kudermetova | Kasatkina d. Linette | M.Andreeva d. Rodionova

She’ll face No.11 seed Anastasia Potapova, a three-set winner over No.6 Veronika Kudermetova.

The youngest player in the draw -- 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva -- was nearly as effective as Rybakina, defeating Arina Rodionova 6-1, 6-1 in a little over an hour. Andreeva served brilliantly, winning 22 of 23 first offerings and faced only one break point. She broke Rodionova’s serve five times.

Andreeva, ranked No.58 among Hologic WTA Tour players, faces the only other unseeded player in the draw, Linda Noskova, who was a three-set winner over qualifier Julia Riera.

In her first year on tour, Andreeva reached the Round of 16 in seven events -- and never advanced to the quarterfinals. And now she has, having dropped only 10 games through three matches.

“Honestly, I thought I would be super happy after the match -- and I was for maybe 10 minutes,” Andreeva said. “And then after I just already started thinking about the next match.”