Sabalenka and Rybakina advance to Brisbane International quarter finals

Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina advanced to the Brisbane International quarter-finals with straight-set wins. Sabalenka beat Sorana Cirstea 6-3, 6-3, while Rybakina defeated Paula Badosa 6-3, 6-2, extending her winning streak to 13 matches ahead of the Australian Open

Brisbane: World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka continued her impressive run at the Brisbane International, storming into the quarter-finals with a dominant straight-sets victory over Romania’s Sorana Cirstea on Thursday.

From the beginning, the defending champion appeared in full command, breaking Cirstea’s serve three times in the first set. Sabalenka kept up her aggressive strategy throughout and secured a comfortable 6-3, 6-3 win in only 70 minutes.

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Her performance further underlined her strong record in Australia in recent years. Since the start of 2023, the Belarusian has secured 35 wins on Australian courts with just two losses, including consecutive Australian Open titles. Her only defeats came in the finals of the 2024 Brisbane International and the 2025 Australian Open.

Despite her convincing win, Sabalenka admitted there are still areas to improve as she prepares for the Australian Open, which begins in Melbourne on January 18.

Meanwhile, World No 5 Elena Rybakina also advanced to the quarter-finals, extending her winning streak to 13 matches. The 26-year-old Kazakh registered a convincing 6-3, 6-2 victory over World No 25 Paula Badosa in one hour and 25 minutes.

Rybakina dominated with her strong serve and solid baseline play, making it difficult for Badosa to find rhythm. Her next opponent will be either Ekaterina Alexandrova or Karolina Muchova.

With several top seeds advancing, the Brisbane International is set for exciting quarter-final matchups ahead of the season’s first Grand Slam.