Sabalenka raises her game when it counts to beat Mboko at Australian Open

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka started strong — and finished stronger — in a 6-1, 7-6(1) win over No. 17 seed Victoria Mboko on Sunday in Melbourne to secure a spot in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the fourth straight year.

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Recognizing in the lead-up to the match that a tough challenge awaited against the 2025 WTA Newcomer of the Year — who was facing a World No. 1 and playing inside Rod Laver Arena for the first time — Sabalenka started off the match in punishing form, and stormed out to a 6-1, 4-1 lead in just over 45 minutes. But, just as in her previous two matches against Bai Zhuoxuan and Anastasia Potapova, the top seed’s level dipped with a big lead, and Mboko took advantage. 

The two-time Grand Slam champion’s serve was broken twice in the second set — including at 5-4, after failing to convert three match points. And later, she found herself two points away from being pushed to a third set when Mboko pulled the 12th game to deuce. But in the end, Sabalenka found herself in a situation she’s thrived in over the last 18 months: a tiebreak set at a Grand Slam — and improved her unbeaten streak in such sets to 20 to finally see off Mboko’s challenge in 1 hour and 26 minutes. 

Saying previously that she had yet a chance to even practice with Mboko or watch her play up close — perhaps symbolic of the 19-year-old’s meteoric rise on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz in the last 12 months — her competitive spirit and sticktoitiveness left Sabalenka impressed.

“What an incredible player for such a young age,” Sabalenka said in her on-court interview. “It’s incredible to see these kids coming up on tour. I can’t believe I say that, I feel like I’m a kid still but whatever! Incredible player. She pushed me really hard today.

“I’m super happy with the win, once again in straight sets. She played incredible tennis. She pushed me so much. Happy to be through.”

Sabalenka later said that the midday Melbourne sun made serving difficult as the match progressed, and pointed towards that as one of the factors that helped Mboko climb back into the second set. But in the end, four winners in the first six points of the tiebreak helped push her through.

“She’s incredible, that’s for sure, but the tricky thing about playing the first match — don’t get me wrong I like to play the first match — but the tricky part, at some point the sun goes right into your serve [hit] point. It’s kind of like tricky. It’s become not easy. You can break the serve,” she said.

“That’s what actually happened. Two breaks that she got, it was on the side when I was facing the sun. Yeah, I didn’t deal that good with the serve. She done incredible job serving on that side. That’s the tricky part.

“I knew she’s going to be fighting. I knew she’s going to be trying. She kind of like has nothing to lose. She showed incredible tennis in those moments when she broke my serve.

“But yeah, I was just focusing staying in the moment, playing point by point, trying to get this win.”

Another teenager awaits Sabalenka next. No. 29 seed Iva Jovic of the United States blitzed Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 6-0, 6-1 to reach her first-ever Grand Slam quarterfinal in under an hour in just her six major main-draw appearance.