Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka and fourth seed Coco Gauff cruised to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open here on Sunday with commanding wins.
No. 2 Sabalenka, who won her first slam here last year, beat Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 6-2 while Gauff, who picked up her first major at the US Open in September, crushed Magdalena Frech 6-1, 6-2.
Anisimova had won four of their previous five meetings, but the American was powerless to stop the power of the Belarusian, who hit 18 winners. “I’m super happy with the level, happy to get this win, she’s a tough opponent,” Sabalenka said.
“I love the atmosphere here, I love playing in front of you guys. I really want to stay as long as possible, and hopefully, we can get this thing one more time.”
A brief rain delay at 4-1 in the first set stopped Sabalenka’s momentum, but she quickly regrouped and pulled away in the second set. She’ll meet No. 9 Barbora Krejcikova in the last eight.
Gauff was the first woman through, needing just 63 minutes to see off Frech in a match played on Rod Laver Arena in front of the man himself.
“Luckily, when I saw him come in, I was already well up,” Gauff said. “I heard clapping and knew it wasn’t for us, it was only the first set. But, thank you for coming, it’s an honour.”
Gauff will play Marta Kostyuk. Ukrainian Kostyuk stormed into her first grand slam quarter final with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Maria Timofeeva of Russia. “I didn’t feel the pressure today. It’s great to have this kind of match,” Kostyuk said after beating Timofeeva. “I’m very happy to finally play as aggressive as I want.”
Still a teenager, Gauff drew attention to her shoes, which carry many messages, including one that says: “You can change the world with your racquet.” That was a message that her father gave her as a little girl. “Sometimes when I look down, I’m just looking at my shoe, just a reminder that life is much more than tennis, how I do on the court does not define me as a person,” she said.
End for Andreeva
Mirra Andreeva was a set away from being the youngest player since Martina Hingis in 1997 to reach the Australian Open quarterfinals.
The 16-year-old took the first set off 2021 French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova in the pre-quarter final on Sunday, later admitting that’s when she started thinking about the last eight.
Ninth-seed Krejcikova rallied to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
“I guess I have to learn from it,” Andreeva said, recounting how she’d put undue pressure on herself because she’d won her previous two matches against Krejcikova.
