World number one Aryna Sabalenka brushed aside teenager Mirra Andreeva 6-1, 6-2 to romp into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Sunday and remain on course for a third straight title.
Andreeva, the 14th seed, was simply unable to get going in the fourth-round clash on Rod Laver Arena as Sabalenka raised her level a couple of notches to extend her winning streak at Melbourne Park to 18 matches.
Sabalenka, who was stunned in three sets by Andreeva in the quarter-finals of last year's French Open, ramped up her serve at any hint of a threat from the 17-year-old and wrapped up the victory in just over an hour with an unreturnable serve.
"Always tough matches against Andreeva, she's so young but playing such great tennis," the 26-year-old said on court.
"I'm super happy to get through this difficult match in straight sets."
Sabalenka will next face Donna Vekic or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who meet later on Sunday, in her 11th quarter-final in her last 13 Grand Slam campaigns.
The Belarusian had struggled with her serve in her third-round contest and said she was much happier playing in the hotter temperatures on Rod Laver Arena on Sunday.
"I'm super happy with my level today and I hope the conditions stay the same for the rest of the tournament," she added.
Neither player lost a point on their serve for the first three games but four straight forehand errors from Andreeva handed Sabalenka a break for 3-1.
The top seed never looked back from there, wrapping up the first set in 25 minutes and breaking again for 2-1 in the second on the back of a couple of double faults from Andreeva.
It was not all power from Sabalenka, who summoned up a couple of subtle drop shots as evidence of the wider repertoire she has been trying to add to her game.
Andreeva managed to put some pressure on Sabalenka's serve at 3-2 down but an ace and a drop shot helped the US Open champion see off the only three break points she would face in the contest.
Gauff passes Bencic test
Coco Gauff rallied from a set down to beat Belinda Bencic 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 to also reach the quarter-finals and extend her winning streak from the start of the season to nine matches.
Swiss Bencic, ranked a lowly 294th on her return to the tour after having a daughter, had won seven of her eight meetings with major champions and showed why as she took the first set in bright sunshine on Rod Laver Arena.
American third seed Gauff, who had not previously dropped a set in 2025, came out firing at the start of the second stanza, however, and got her reward for her more aggressive shot-making when she levelled up the contest at 1-1.
Bencic had a look at Gauff's serve in the opening game of the decider but the 2023 U.S. Open champion slammed the door shut before breaking for 3-1 as the net cord twice conspired against her opponent.
The 27-year-old Swiss looked broken by her bad luck and Gauff rattled off the last three games to seal the victory and a set a quarter-final date with Spain's Paula Badosa.
"I thought in the first set she played great tennis, it was tough for me to be more on offence," the 20-year-old said.
"Overall I'm happy with how I played, the first set could have gone my way with a few more points and I played more aggressively in the second set then reset to play my best in the third."
Gauff will not be entirely happy with nine double faults in a total tally of 45 unforced errors, nor with a success rate on her second serve of around 40%, as she looks to at least match her run to the semi-finals in Melbourne last year.
"We worked very hard in the offseason, obviously there's still a lot for me to go to accomplish my goal," Gauff said.
"Maybe a couple of years ago, if I lost the first set I might lose the match and I remember my dad said, 'we've got to toughen you up'.
"I was just trying to put myself in the position where I could leave the court and feel proud of myself."
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