January 19, 2025
World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka rolled into her third straight Australian Open quarterfinal with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Mirra Andreeva on Sunday in Melbourne, her 18th consecutive win at the tournament.
Two-time defending champion Sabalenka, who lost to Andreeva in their only prior meeting at a major — Roland Garros last spring — 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.
“It’s always tough matches against Mirra; she’s so young but so mature and playing such great tennis,” Sabalenka said post-match. “I’m super happy to get through this difficult match in straight sets.
“Today, I came out on the court and I was trying to put the ball back and the ball was flying like a rocket. I was super happy with the level today, and I hope conditions help me and I hope it’s going to be the same until the end of the tournament.”
Sabalenka will face No.27 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarterfinals. A finalist at Roland Garros in 2021, Pavlyuchenkova is into her fourth Australian Open quarterfinal and first since 2020 by besting No.18 seed Donna Vekic 7-6(0), 6-0. She leads the head-to-head over Sabalenka 2-1, with their last meeting coming in 2021 en route to the French Open final.
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