Australian Open: Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff and Paula Badosa all the way to the quarterfinals | Tennis news
Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka raced into the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff recovered from a set down to defeat Belinda Bencic.
Sabalenka was pushed by Jessica Bouzas Maneiro and Clara Tauson in the previous two matches, but she was relentless against 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva.
Teenager Andreeva upset Sabalenka at the French Open last summer but lasted just 62 minutes on Rod Laver Arena as the top seed received a treatment similar to that given to Emma Raducan by Iga Swiatek on Saturday.
After the 6-1 6-2 win, 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 aiming to become the first woman to win three consecutive singles titles here since Martina Hingis in the late 1990s, extended her winning streak at Melbourne Park to 18 matches.
Next they will play against the 17th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkovawho reached the quarterfinals here for the fourth time by winning over Donna Vekić with the score of 7-6 (7-0) 6-0.
A blockbuster semi-final clash between Sabalenka and Gauff looks more likely after the American fought back to beat Bencic 5-7 6-2 6-1.
The Swiss, a former top 10 star and Olympic gold medalist, recently returned to the tour following the birth of daughter Bella last April and played a solid first set.
But Gauff, who had won all of her previous matches this year in straight sets, took control early in the second and eventually powered her way to victory in hot conditions at Rod Laver Arena.
“I thought she played great tennis in the first set, it was difficult for me to be on the attack,” said the 20-year-old.
“I just played more aggressively in the second and third sets. Overall I’m happy with how I played. I could have won the first set and I just tried to reset.
“We’ve worked hard in the offseason. Obviously, I still have a lot to do to reach my goals.”
Gauff will next meet the 11th seed Paul Bados after the Spaniard ended the streak of unseeded Serbian Olga Danilović with a 6-1 7-6 (7-2) win to reach the last eight for the first time.
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