Sabalenka had to dig deep in the opening set before putting away daring French wildcard Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah 6-4 6-1 in front of tennis legends Rod Laver and Roger Federer on Sunday night.
"Oh my god, what a privilege. I really hope you enjoyed watching just a little bit," the beaming and blushing Belarusian said before earning a thumbs up from Federer.
Paolini earlier planned to enjoy the Melbourne sunshine after wasting no time in becoming the first women's big gun through to the 2026 Open second round.
The seventh-seeded Italian needed just 69 minutes to see off Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-1 6-2 in the opening match of the tournament on Rod Laver Arena.
A two-time grand slam finalist in 2024, Paolini won all eight of her service games and broke her Belarusian opponent four times.
"Yeah, it was pretty good today. I didn't expect that," Paolini said.
"I mean, it's always tough to play first round, especially against a qualifier like Aliaksandra and she has a crazy level.
"I think I played pretty good. I was solid, I was focused, so I'm happy."
Paolini's day didn't start out quite so well.
"I said to myself, 'Look, you didn't smile since you get up, so smile a little bit because if not, you will step on court and you play bad'," she said.
"For me, it's important to enjoy my tennis, to enjoy being on court, play matches and so sometimes I force myself to smile more."
Asked how she planned to celebrate, Paolini said: "It's Sunday and I won, so I can enjoy the day - and it's great.
"I will enjoy my Sunday now."
Svitolina is enjoying more than her Sunday down time, the 12th seed continuing her joyous summer with a 6-4 6-1 rout of Spaniard Cristina Bucsa.
The Ukrainian 12th seed is riding a six-match winning streak to start to year after reigning last week at the ASB Classic in Auckland.
Svitolina is loving life on tour more than ever, travelling with her retiring husband Gael Monfils and three-year-old daughter Skai.
"We enjoy a lot supporting each other in every single tournament and having somebody who really understands and supports you every step of the way," said Svitolina, a three-time Open quarter-finalist.
"It's special for us and for him, especially this year's going to be very unique and with lots of different emotions and it's going to be very enjoyable.
"From my side, I just have to be there for him and just happy to share the journey."
Australian wildcard Talia Gibson earlier claimed the distinction of being the first winner of the 2026 Open, crushing Russia's Anna Blinkova 6-1 6-3.
The biggest loser on Sunday was Brisbane International finalist and 20th seed Marta Kostyuk, who lost to Frenchwoman Elsa Jacquemot 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (10-7)
There was another boilover on Sunday night when Chinese qualifier Zhuoxuan Bai outlasted 2025 quarter-finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4 2-6 7-6 (12-10).
Two-time finalist Venus Williams, 45, suffered a 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-3 defeat to world No.69 Olga Danilovic.
But 28th seed and former US Open champion Emma Raducanu beat Thailand's Mananchaya Sawangkaew 6-4 6-1.
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