Magda Linette overcame two early breaks in the first set to eventually eliminate the fourth-seeded Caroline Garcia by 2-0 (7:6, 6:4). For the Polish tennis player, this victory also means her first appearance in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament.
Magda Linette was literally at a loss for words during the on-court interview right after the match. “I really can’t believe what happened! I can’t believe it, really! I don’t know what’s happening! I’m speechless! I don’t know what to tell you”, said the Polish tennis player as she covered her face and shook her head.
Magda Linette had a terrifying record of 6 defeats in 6 appearances in the third round of Grand Slam tournaments until she eliminated Ekaterina Alexandrova. And that momentum allowed her to deal with WTA Finals champion Caroline Garcia today.
She started the match terribly, trailing 0:3 in the first set, then reduced her deficit a bit for 2:4 and 3:5. But a break for 5:5, which she had to convert from her second opportunity, equalized the score and sent the first set into a tiebreak. Thus, after an hour and 57 minutes of play, Caroline Garcia became Magda Linette’s fourth top-10 victim, with three of them even in the top-5.
Her next opponent will be Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic), who in another match of the fourth round eliminated Zhang Shuai (China) by 2-0 (6:0, 6:4).
Karolina Pliskova needed only 55 minutes to reach this result. And she showed that the Chinese is a comfortable opponent for her as she recorded an eighth win in eight matches against her. Karolina Pliskova was even trailing 2:4 in the second set, but then took four consecutive games as a joke, two of them to zero.
The 5th-seeded Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) also qualified for the quarterfinals after eliminated the 12th-seeded Belinda Bencic (Switzerland) by 2-0 (7:5, 6:2). For Aryna Sabalenka, it will also be her first appearance in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.
Belinda Bencic double-faulted to allow a break to squander his chances of taking the first set. And that was the turning point from which the Belarusian player took control of the match. First she broke in the second set for 3:1, and then realized her second match point also with a break for 6:2.
For a place in the semifinals, she will play with Donna Vekic (Croatia), who stopped the flight of the young Czech Linda Fruhvirtova in three sets and finally won y 2-1 (6:2, 1:6, 6:3).
“I’m extremely happy! Belinda Bencic is an amazing tennis player. A very good match from her side, and I can say that I’m happy with my level. The other thing that makes me happy is that I’m constantly improving my physical form. I’ve also had very bad emotions in the previous days, but now I hope that positivism will carry me forward”, said Aryna Sabalenka.
The other two quarter-finals are also now clear. In the first, Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan) will play with Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia), and the American Jessica Pegula will have Victoria Azarenka as her opponent in the other. After the main draw’s top-seeed Iga Swiatek and Ons Jabeur were eliminated in the earlier rounds, now the third-seeded Jessica Pegula is the main favorite.
