Australian Open: Aryna Sabalenka routs Mirra Andreeva for third successive quarterfinal at Melbourne Park

Gauff battles past Bencic to set up quarterfinal clash with Badosa

Melbourne: World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka sailed into her third straight Australian Open quarterfinal with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Mirra Andreeva on Sunday.

The win was Sabalenka’s 18th consecutive victory at the Australian Open. A winning streak at Melbourne Park has tied Victoria Azarenka for the longest at the Australian Open this decade. She is attempting to win her third consecutive Australian Open title.

Two-time defending champion Sabalenka, who lost to Andreeva in their only prior meeting at a major — Roland Garros last year — broke the 17-year-old’s serve four times and never lost her own en route to improving to 4-1 in the head-to-head overall.

Taking advantage of quick conditions inside Rod Laver Arena in the midday sunshine, Sabalenka hit 15 winners to 11 unforced errors, and also served three aces, according to WTA.

She will face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova who beat DonnaVekic 7-6, 6-0 in other fourth round match.

No.3 seed Coco Gauff had to come from behind to reach the quarterfinals, with a gritty 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 win over new mom Belinda Bencic at Rod Laver Arena.

Gauff lost her first set of the season in her Round-of-16 match against Switzerland’s 2021 Olympic gold medallist Bencic. However, the American made a strong recovery, completing a 2-hour and 26-minute comeback to extend her 2025 win-loss record to 9-0.

She also became the first woman to post back-to-back 9-0 starts to a season since Victoria Azarenka in 2012-2013. The 20-year-old Gauff is also the youngest woman to pull off that feat since Monica Seles in 1992-1993, according to WTA.

2023 US Open champion Gauff extends her legacy of success at the major events, moving into her eighth career Grand Slam quarterfinal. So far this century, only Maria Sharapova (12), Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters (nine each) have made more women’s singles Grand Slam quarterfinals than Gauff before the age of 21.

Gauff lost just three points on serve up to 4-3, but Bencic started stepping inside the baseline on second serve returns, breaking the American twice in a row to take the first set.

Two consecutive double faults by Gauff gave Bencic a 6-5 advantage, and the former World No. 4 secured the set after an hour of play.

Gauff reclaimed the top-notch form as she grabbed hold of the contest in the second set, where she didn’t face a break point and had 17 winners to Bencic’s two. The American’s dominance in the second and third sets helped her secure a 2-1 lead over Bencic in their head-to-head encounters.

Gauff is now a win away from making her second straight Australian Open semifinal, having lost to eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka in the final four last year.

No.11 seed Paula Badosa of Spain will be Gauff’s quarterfinal opponent. The Spaniard topped Olga Danilovic of Serbia 6-1, 7-6 (2) in their fourth-round match on Sunday. Agencies

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