Sabalenka powers into Australian Open quarter-finals

Sabalenka advances to the Australia Open quarterfinals: By smashing 32 winners, Aryna Sabalenka has shown off her incredible strength and advanced into the Australian Open quarterfinals for the first time. The world No. 5 defeated the 12th seed Belinda Bencic at Rod Laver Arena on Monday, extending her unblemished start to the year with a 7-5, 6-2 victory. Bencic jumped out to a quick 4-2 lead but only managed to win one of the following six games, losing the first set with a double-fault. Due to her stronger serve, Sabalenka easily won her seventh straight match in straight sets in one hour and 27 minutes. Sabalenka said, "I'm really delighted with the win today." I'm thrilled with the level today because (Bencic) is a terrific player and performed so well. Trying to be more "boring" on the court, managing her emotions, and keeping her head up while taking an early break are all things Sabalenka has mentioned in interviews. "It took me some time to realise that a bad mood wouldn't benefit you on the court," Sabalenka stated. You only need to maintain your composure, hold onto your faith, and do every effort necessary to regain momentum and win the match. "I'm really pleased with how I approached the game today." In the past two years, Sabalenka has been to three grand slam semifinals, but she has never advanced to the last eight at Melbourne Park. 24-year-olds will encounter In the past two years, Sabalenka has been to three grand slam semifinals, but she has never advanced to the last eight at Melbourne Park. The 24-year-old will play Donna Vekic for a spot in the semifinals after the unseeded Croatian defeated Czech youngster Linda Fruhvirtova 6-2, 1-6, 6-3. Karolina Pliskova, a former world number one, advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating Zhang Shuai of China 6-0, 6-4. The 30th-seeded Czech player breezed through the opening set in just 21 minutes, pounding out 15 wins and six aces in the process. Pliskova defeated fourth seed Caroline Garcia 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals, where she will play Magda Linette.