Sabalenka races through as Gauff battles into Australian Open quarter-finals

Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka raced into the Australian Open quarter-finals while Coco Gauff recovered from a set down to defeat Belinda Bencic.

Sabalenka had been pushed in her two previous matches by Jessica Bouzas Maneiro and Clara Tauson, but she was ruthless against 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva.

Teenager Andreeva upset Sabalenka at the French Open last summer, but she lasted just 62 minutes on Rod Laver Arena as the top seed dished out similar treatment to that meted out on Emma Raducanu by Iga Swiatek on Saturday.

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After her 6-1 6-2 victory, Sabalenka said: “I’m super happy to get this win. Mirra is so young, so mature, such a great player. She can play really great tennis.”

Sabalenka, who is looking to become the first woman to win three singles titles in a row here since Martina Hingis at the end of the 1990s, extended her winning streak at Melbourne Park to 18 matches.

Sabalenka’s winning streak in Melbourne

Aryna Sabalenka is the fifth player in the past decade to reach three consecutive women’s singles quarter-finals at the Australian Open after Serena Williams, Karolina Pliskova, Ashleigh Barty and Jessica Pegula.

Sabalenka is the first player to win 18 straight matches at the Australian Open since Victoria Azarenka (2012-14).

She will next take on 17th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who reached the quarter-finals here for the fourth time with a 7-6 (7-0) 6-0 victory over Donna Vekic.

A blockbuster semi-final clash between Sabalenka and Gauff is appearing more likely after the American hit back to beat Bencic 5-7 6-2 6-1.

The Swiss, a former top-10 star and Olympic gold medallist, recently returned to the tour following the birth of daughter Bella last April and played a fine first set.

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But Gauff, who had won all her previous matches this year in straight sets, took control early in the second and eventually powered her way to victory in hot conditions on Rod Laver Arena.

“I thought in the first set she played great tennis, it was tough for me to be on the offence,” said the 20-year-old.

“I just played more aggressively in the second set and in the third set. Overall I’m happy with how I played. I could have won the first set and I just tried to reset.

“We worked hard in the off-season. Obviously there’s a lot to go for me to accomplish my goals.”

Gauff mourned the loss of TikTok’s app back home, writing on a TV camera lens “RIP TikTok USA” and drawing a broken heart right after winning her match.

Gauff in elite company

Coco Gauff has become the youngest player to win her first nine WTA-level matches in consecutive seasons since Monica Seles (1992-93).

Since 2020, only two have reached more quarter-finals at Grand Slam events than Gauff (eight) – Aryna Sabalenka (11) and Iga Swiatek (nine).

Gauff now holds a 16-6 record in deciding sets at Grand Slam events, winning eight of her past 10 such matches.

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Gauff will next meet 11th seed Paula Badosa after the Spaniard ended the run of unseeded Serbian Olga Danilovic with a 6-1 7-6 (7-2) victory to reach the last eight here for the first time.

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Source : Sky Sports

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