Sabalenka withstands Mboko fightback to reach quarterfinals

Aryna Sabalenka defeated Victoria Mboko 6–1, 7–6(1) to become the first women’s quarterfinalist at Australian Open 2026. The top seed converted her fifth match point after the nineteen-year-old Canadian made the second set substantially more competitive at Rod Laver Arena.

Mboko recovered from a double-break deficit and saved three match points when Sabalenka served at 5–4. Sabalenka eventually forced a tiebreak and raced to a 6–0 lead before finishing the match in one hour and twenty-seven minutes.

The victory was Sabalenka’s twentieth consecutive Grand Slam tiebreak success, surpassing Novak Djokovic’s earlier nineteen-match sequence. She reached her thirteenth successive major quarterfinal without dropping a set in Melbourne and earned a meeting with American teenager Iva Jovic.