Sabalenka, Gauff cruise into quarterfinals at Australian Open

Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff advance to Australian Open quarterfinals with dominant wins.

Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka and 4th-ranked Coco Gauff cruised into the quarterfinals of the Australian Open on January 21 with commanding wins.

No. 2 Sabalenka, who won her first slam title here last year, beat Amanada Anisimova 6-3, 6-2 while Gauff, who picked up her first major at the U.S. 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 either 16-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva or 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 honor.”