For Sabalenka's part, Sunday's match was a pleasant story that ended with a crushing 6–1, 6–2 against the Russian talent Mirra Andreeva.
The Belarusian, who won the tournament last year, has now won 24 consecutive sets in Melbourne. In her victory interview, she was, despite the numbers, humble.
I'm extremely happy to have made it through the tough match in straight sets. Mirra is so young, so mature, such a great player. She can really play fantastic tennis, said Sabalenka.
For Coco Gauff, the journey to the quarterfinals was much harder. The American failed to gain control over her strokes in the first set, which her opponent Belinda Bencic from Switzerland took home.
But then the 20-year-old began to show why she is ranked as the world's third-best player. Both her serves and her baseline play improved and eventually she took home the victory with the scores 5–7, 6–2, 6–1.
Next for Gauff is Paula Badosa from Spain, while Sabalenka will face Russian Anastasija Pavljutjenkova.
