World No. 1, Aryna Sabalenka, who concluded her 2025 season with impressive results, is back with a bang at the 2026 Brisbane International. The Belarusian booked her place in the quarterfinals and here, she will take on Madison Keys, who beat her in last year’s Australian Open final.
Aryna Sabalenka Talks About Avenging Australian Open Final Defeat to Madison Keys in Brisbane
Sabalenka is the defending champion at the Brisbane International as well as the top seed, and received a bye to the second round. Here, she thrashed Cristina Bucșa 6-0, 6-1 to set up a third-round clash with Sorana Cîrstea. The Belarusian beat the Romanian 6-3, 6-3 to book her place in the quarterfinals.
In her post-match press conference, which took place at a time when the winner of Keys’ match against Diana Shnaider was not confirmed, Sabalenka was asked if the American was in the category of players she wanted to take revenge against, with the reporter hinting towards last year’s Australian Open final.
The Belarusian spoke about beating Keys at Indian Wells last year but said that she would like to avenge her defeat in Melbourne. Sabalenka also stated that she was excited to take on Keys.
“No, actually, I mean, if we’re talking particularly about our matches in Australia, because after Australian Open we played in Indian Wells, and I got my win back. But here, specifically in Australia, of course I’d like to get the revenge. If it’s going to be Keys, it’s going to be, as always, a great battle, really aggressive tennis. I’m excited to face her,” Sabalenka said.
Sabalenka will take on Keys in the quarterfinals after the American edged out Shnaider 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-6(4). This will be the eighth meeting between the two, with the Belarusian leading their head-to-head 5-2. Whoever out of the two wins, will face either third seed Elena Rybakina or 11th seed Karolína Muchová in the semifinals of the Brisbane International.
Elsewhere in the WTA 500 event, fourth seed Jessica Pegula booked her place in the quarterfinals with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 win over Dayana Yastremska. Here, she will take on 10th seed Liudmila Samsonova, who triumphed 6-4, 6-4 over Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
Pegula’s compatriot, second seed Amanda Anisimova, however, suffered a shock 4-6, 3-6 defeat to 16th Kostyuk. The Ukrainian will face sixth seed Mirra Andreeva, who booked her place in the last eight with a hard-fought 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 win over ninth seed Linda Nosková.
