Sabalenka Powers Into Fourth Straight Australian Open Quarterfinal

Melbourne, Jan 2026 : World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka continued her dominant run at the Australian Open, defeating rising star Victoria Mboko 6-1, 7-6(1) to reach the quarterfinals for the fourth consecutive year at Melbourne Park on Sunday.

With the straight-sets victory, Sabalenka booked her 13th consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal, underlining her remarkable consistency at the sport’s biggest events. The Belarusian has now taken another decisive step toward winning the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup for a third time, having already lifted the trophy in back-to-back editions.

Sabalenka also achieved a historic milestone during the match, winning her 20th consecutive tiebreak at Grand Slam level. In doing so, she surpassed a long-standing record held by Novak Djokovic, who had won 19 straight tiebreaks at majors between Wimbledon 2005 and the 2007 Australian Open. The statistic further highlights Sabalenka’s growing reputation as one of the most clutch performers in high-pressure moments.

The top seed began the contest in ruthless fashion, racing through the opening set 6-1 and surging ahead to a 4-1 lead in the second set in just over 45 minutes. Her powerful groundstrokes and aggressive returning initially left Mboko struggling to keep pace.

However, the young Canadian showed impressive resilience. Mboko broke Sabalenka’s serve twice in the second set, including at 5-4, after the two-time champion failed to convert three match points. Mboko continued to raise her level and even pushed the final game to deuce, leaving Sabalenka just two points away from being forced into a deciding third set.

As she has so often done over the past 18 months, Sabalenka responded calmly under pressure. Once the match moved into a tiebreak, the world No. 1 took complete control, dominating the breaker to close out the contest in 1 hour and 26 minutes, extending her perfect record in Grand Slam tiebreaks to 20.

Speaking after the match, Sabalenka praised her opponent’s performance. “She’s an incredible player for such a young age. It’s amazing to see these kids coming up on tour,” Sabalenka said. “She pushed me really hard today. It was quite a fight, and I’m super happy I was able to finish the match in straight sets.”

Notably, Sabalenka remains yet to drop a set in the tournament, reinforcing her status as the player to beat.

In the quarterfinals on Tuesday, Sabalenka will face 29th seed Iva Jovic, who reached her maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal with a commanding 6-0, 6-1 win over Yulia Putintseva. The clash will determine a place in the final four as Sabalenka continues her title defence in emphatic fashion.