It’s been an action-packed Australian Open thus far, and the dominating outings as well as the stunning upsets keep the whole tennis world glued to the prestigious event in Melbourne.
Sabalenka, Gauff, and Kostyuk are the first three contestants to advance to the quarterfinals, and they did so with ease.
Meanwhile, Czech teenager Linda Noskova shocked the tournament and the whole world, for that matter, after pulling off one of the biggest upsets in recent history by eliminating world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the third round of the tournament.
Following the theme of upsets, France’s Clara Burel thrashed No. 5 Jessica Pegula of the United States in the second round. While Russian Elina Aanesyan humbled No. 8 seed Maria Sakkari, 6-4, 6-4, to advance to the third round of the Australian Open.
The contest in Melbourne has kept SBOTOP tennis fans on the edge of their seats since the tournament began, but amidst the rollercoaster ride of uncertainty and upsets, one woman has emerged as the undisputed Australian Open 2024 odds favourite: Aryna Sabalenka.
Unlike a number of her compatriots in the upper echelon of the WTA Rankings, the defending Australian Open title holder, Sabalenka, stayed true to her form, grace, and superiority by cruising through the early stages of the tournament and is now sitting pretty, awaiting her next victim in the quarterfinals.
The Belarusian star breezed through Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 6-2 in the fourth round, avoiding the upset bug and advancing to the quarterfinals to boot.
“I’m super happy with the level,” Sabalenka said, praising her fallen adversary. “She’s a super tough opponent, and I’m so happy to see her back on tour.”
The World No. 2 and the rest of the tennis world will have to wait and see who will advance between Andreeva and Krejcikova to challenge Sabalenka in what could be a historic quarterfinal match.
If the dominant Sabalenka manages to produce winning Australian Open 2024 results in her upcoming quarterfinal bout, she will be the first player since Serena Williams to win 12+ consecutive matches at the prestigious Australian Open.
Adding to that, only five other players in the Open Era have reached six or more consecutive semifinal appearances before turning 26 years old, and if Sabalenka does manage to win her quarterfinal bout, the Phenom from Minsk will join that shortlist, which consists of Chris Evert, Stefanie Graf, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, and Serena Williams.
Iga Swiatek falls short in the third round
The world No. 1 Iga Swiatek falls from grace after suffering a jaw-dropping 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 upset against Czech teenager Linda Noskova in the third round of the Australian Open.
“I felt like I had everything under control until she broke me in the second set,” Swiatek said in disbelief. “But, yeah, well, I had couple of chances to break her in second set and I didn’t use them. So that’s a shame.
With this loss, Swiatek’s 18-match winning streak comes to an end, marking only the second time that the World No. 1 has lost to a younger player at tour level and concedes the chance to win her first Australian Open.
On the other side of the court, the 19-year-old Linda Noskova was already counted out by many even before her match with Swiatek began, due to the fact that Noskova’s humbling loss in three straight sets against Swiatek in Warsaw last year is still fresh in the minds of tennis fans across the globe.
Noskova’s win against Swiatek marks her biggest victory of her career. And she plans on riding on this monumental win moving forward to the next round of the Open.
“The match was obviously really, really tough as we went on, I just kind of felt I was getting closer and it was definitely tough to finish it as it always is but I’m just so glad to have my first ever win.” the young Czech stated after the match.
Gauff-Kostyuk quarterfinal
The first confirmed match in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open will showcase No. 4 seed Coco Gauff of the United States and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine.
Gauff, like Sabalenka, cruised through the journey en route to the quarterfinals, thrashing Schmiedlova, Dolehide, Parks, and most recently, Magdalena Frech. Gauff’s win over French guarantees the first ever Australian Open quarterfinal of her career.
“First Aussie quarterfinal, super happy to be in this position and be here,” Gauff stated post-match. “It’s cool to get over that hump. Hopefully I can keep going for more.”
The thriving American will face World No. 37, Marta Koystuk, who ended the fairytale run of Russian qualifier Maria Timofeeva at the Australian Open with a 6-2, 6-1 score to reach her first ever Grand Slam quarterfinal.
It will definitely be an all-out brawl between these two competitors. Gauff is the higher-ranked player and would probably be the favourite to come out of this match as the victor, but a theme of upsets looms over Melbourne, and Kostyuk could be the adversary to end Gauff’s perfect 9-0 record in 2024.
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