Daily Times

Ayna Sabalenka’s Australian Open title defence remains firmly on track after the world No.2 breezed into the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International.

Unlike men’s Melbourne Park king Novak Djokovic, who suffered a shock setback in Perth, Sabalenka extended her winning streak in Australia to 13 matches with a 6-1 6-0 rout of China’s world No.33 Lin Zhu at Pat Rafter Arena.

A night after Alex de Minaur snapped Djokovic’s 43-match winning sequence in Australia, Sabalenka underlined her women’s Open prospects on Thursday with a second straight-sets win of the season. “It’s been an amazing two days for me,” Sabalenka said after dropping only four games in her first two outings of the year. “I’m super happy with the level and super happy with the win.

“I’ve improved a lot last season and coming here this year, it’s different. I knew that I will get some support and it will be enjoyable to play and I’m trying to not focus on the previous result here.”

The Belarusian will face Russian fifth seed Daria Kasatkina in the quarter-finals on Friday as eastern Europeans make their presence felt in Queensland despite the dramatic shift in temperature from the northern to southern hemisphere.

Latvian Jelena Ostapenko earlier on Thursday blasted three-time champion Karolina Pliskova out of the tournament. Ostapenko will meet Sabalenka’s fellow Belarusian Victoria Azarenka for a spot in the semi-finals after thumping 53 winners in a 6-2 4-6 6-3 win against the Czech former world No.1.

Former French Open champion Ostapenko, a quarter-finalist at Melbourne Park last year, stood and delivered in a two-hour, 17-minute shootout.

Fresh from below-freezing temperatures at her European base, Ostapenko was feeling the pinch as the sun finally came out on a humid Brisbane day.

But the world No.12 won over the crowd with her passion and power that eventually proved too much for Pliskova, despite serving 18 aces and offering 40 winners of her own.

Ostapenko’s victory followed two-time Brisbane and Australian Open champion Azarenka’s early scare in a tough 7-5 6-2 defeat of France’s Clara Burel.

Pliskova has won the Brisbane event three times, a mark Azarenka can now match.

The 34-year-old was pushed in a tight first set by the world No.56, who hit 30 winners to offset 28 unforced errors, then created some breathing space with an early break to begin the second set.

The tennis super-mum won her first career WTA title in Brisbane in 2009 and added another in 2016, before having her son in December of that year. “I have mum’s brain,” the 2012 and 2013 Australian Open champion said.

“Since my son was born, anything that happened before that I don’t remember much.

“But I’ll never forget that (Brisbane 2009 title) though – I had five finals before that I’d lost.”

Meanwhile, Australian wildcard Arina Rodionova’s bright run came to a crashing halt against 16-year-old Russian sensation Mirra Andreeva.

The teenager, already ranked as high as No.43 in the world, took just 64 minutes in a 6-1 6-1 win that denied 34-year-old Rodionova entry into the world’s top 100 for the first time.

Rodionova had beaten former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin to reach the third round in Brisbane. She won seven ITF titles in 2023 to become Australia’s highest-ranked female, but will need a wildcard to earn entry into this month’s Australian Open.

Andreeva will meet 19-year-old Linda Noskova for a place in the final four after the Czech talent, who burst on to the scene in Australia a year ago, beat Argentina’s Julia Riera in three sets.