18-year-old Iva Jovic defeated Yulia Putintseva on Sunday to set up a quarter-final with world number 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who after a comfortable opener got through a tough second set to face another young pretender, Victoria Mboko.
She’s a great player, it was quite a battle and I’m super happy that I was able to finish this match in straight sets. The second set was a bit difficult, but I’m happy with the level I played and I’m glad I got through it. Aryna Sabalenka
The American, who is seeded 29th and only turned 18 in December, says she is ‘very excited’ to test herself against ‘the best’ after dropping one match in a convincing 6-0 6-1 victory over Putintseva, the Russian-born Kazakh.
Playing in only her sixth Grand Slam and her first as a seeded player, Jovic reached her first Major quarter-final in 53 minutes, the youngest American to reach the AO Women’s Singles Last 8 since Venus Williams in 1998, and like Williams she has reached this stage without dropping a set.
She is also the youngest player since Maria Sharapova to reach the quarter-finals of all her first three WTA Tour level tournaments in one calendar year, the Russian doing so in 2005.
“I feel great,” Jovic said after the match. “I’m really happy that I got through it. Obviously the score is favorable, but it doesn’t matter how you get it done. I just wanted to get it done, and I felt like if I let her get back a little bit, it would be a dog fight. So I tried to keep it as far away as possible, and I’m so happy to be in the quarterfinals.”
Jovic showed a hint of nerves in the opening game and fell a few break points behind, but she responded with four straight points to maintain the 1-0 lead and was off to the races.
She delivered a complete performance, finding a variety of winners, especially on the return.
She rose three-fold break point in the fourth game, following a save from Putintseva with a timely backhand winner to break for 4–0, and added another to hold on at love in the next game, before securing a third break to wrap up the opening set in just 25 minutes.
The second followed a similar pattern, with Jovic continuing to fire winners while her serve remained rock solid, landing 71% of first serves and winning 67% of those points, along with 73% of her second serve points.
It all added to Putinseva’s growing frustration as the Kazakh appeared to be in danger of taking a dreaded double bagel loss, and she threw her racket in an attempt to send back a forehand winner, without success.
However, she broke Jovic for the first time to finally get on the board at 4-1 in the second set, but it only solidified the American as the crowd grew more enthusiastic.
“I like playing up front [the crowd]”, said Jovic afterwards. “The more people there are, the better I feel. So, thank you. Thanks for coming out. It was great.”
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It was all too little too late for Putintseva as Jovic immediately broke her back and served out the match, which is the fastest of the Australian Open to date.
“I’m just trying to trust all the work I’ve put in,” Jovic said. ‘I know [in] tennis, you really never know what’s going to happen. But I know how hard I’ve worked, so I just trust that everything will happen as it should. So win or lose, this is the right path for me.”
Jovic produces incredible power with her forehand wing, forcing 17 winners to Putintseva’s 4 and stopping her opponent from hitting one of her dangerous drop shots.
The American’s stance at the baseline also allowed her to take her serve to the next level, and she took 67% of her first serve points, with 3 aces contributing to her rapidly improving service game.
Jovic has 11 match wins this year alone, the most of any player on the WTA tour, while just 12 months ago she was ranked 191 when defeated in the first round by eventual finalist Elena Rybakina here in Melbourne.
After months of reassessing and rebuilding her game, she won her first career WTA title in September in Guadalajara at the age of 17, moving her up 36 places in the rankings.
Now in her second AO appearance, Jovic’s run to her first Grand Slam quarter-final is a dream come true as she prepares for the biggest challenge of her young career.
The 29th seed in Melbourne, who had previously failed to progress beyond the second round of a major, will face the world number 1 at WTA Tour level for the first time.
Asked about meeting Sabalenka in the next round, Jovic said: “I think I’m just going to try to keep looking after my side of the net. Obviously she’s number one for a reason and has had so much success at this tournament, but that’s what I want.”
“I said last year that I hoped to be able to play here this year, because you definitely want to play the best and see how it goes. I’m very excited.”
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka was tested in the second set by 19-year-old Victoria Mboko, the 17th seed, at Rod Laver Arena on Day 8 of the Australian Open
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Earlier on Sunday, two-time AO champion Sabalenka defeated another rising star, Jovic’s 19-year-old doubles partner, Canada’s Victoria Mboko, 6-1 7-6(1) at Rod Laver Arena.
“She is a great player, it was quite a battle and I am super happy that I was able to finish this match in two sets,” said Sabalenka. “The second set was a bit difficult, but I’m happy with the level I played and I’m glad I got through it.”
Sabalenka, the first woman to reach the AO quarters, needed 5 match points before she got past Mboko after an hour and 26 minutes.
Like Jovic, the Belarusian has yet to drop a set at this year’s Australian Open, while she has now reached at least the quarter-finals in thirteen consecutive Grand Slam appearances and is two wins away from a fourth consecutive final in Melbourne.
She became champion in 2023 and 2024 and lost the final to the American Madison Keys last year.
Mboko, the first player to make her AO debut as a seed since Emma Navarro in 2024, went into the match unfazed despite the occasion.
It was her first fourth-round match at a major, her first appearance on Melbourne Park’s biggest stage, Rod Laver Arena, and her first match against a world No. 1.
The 19-year-old, who is trying to become the first Canadian to reach an AO quarterfinal since Eugenie Bouchard in 2015, has had success against reigning Grand Slam champions, beating Coco Gauff in Montreal last year and Madison Keys in Adelaide this month.
She drew appreciative shouts from a crowd largely unfamiliar with her game by producing a stunning backhand winner to take Sabalenka to deuce in the top seed’s opening gambit, followed by a blistering forehand to set up break point.
The four-time Major champion roared after pulling a forehand past Mboko to save it, serving an ace to hold as he roared again.
Sabalenka earned her first break points of the match in the fourth game, against her less experienced opponent, converting one when Mboko sprayed a backhand wide.
Moving her opponent back and forth with her trademark power, the Belarusian broke again for a 5-1 lead before executing a textbook backhand volley to close out the opening set.
Victoria Mboko came from behind in the second set to force a breaker against Aryna Sabalenka, but was defeated in straight sets on Sunday
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Sabalenka landed a perfect drop shot to break Mboko in the opening game of the second, and the 27-year-old looked on his way to a comfortable victory as the set came within 8 points of the finish line when Mboko double-faulted to give Sabalenka a 4-1 lead, kissing a double break.
But with her back against the wall, Mboko’s powerful groundstrokes began to wrong-foot Sabalenka, who faced two break points and blasted a backhand long to one break back, sending the Canadian fans to their feet.
While Sabalenka served for the match at 5-4, Mboko was fearless on the return. She hit some of her heaviest forehands of the match to save three match points, and created a trio of break point chances, converting the third when the Belarusian overheated a forehand.
Suddenly back in the set, Mboko served another premature double fault, but rather than let this worry her, she pulled home a backhand winner and an ace to hold.
Sabalenka now trailed Mboko 5–6 and was two points away from a third set, but she dug deep to deliver some huge serves, allowing a tiebreak to decide the outcome.
After securing an immediate minibreak, Sabalenka asserted her authority by hitting an ace and three winners to race into a 6/0 lead.
Although Mboko’s booming forehand allowed the Canadian to save a fourth match point, her final forehand of the match sailed long, handing Sabalenka the win as the clock ticked past 1 hour and 27 minutes.
Later, Mboko reflected: “If it was too short, she automatically took advantage of it and wasted no time in putting me completely on the defensive. From the start, the moment my shot quality wasn’t good enough, she immediately dictated, so that’s something I [can] Work on and learn for next time.”
In impressive fashion, Sabalenka won her 20th consecutive tiebreak at Grand Slam level, eclipsing a nearly 20-year-old record set by Novak Djokovic, who won 19 straight tiebreaks at majors between Wimbledon 2005 and 2007.
“When I go into tiebreaks, I try not to think that this is the case [a] tiebreak, playing point by point, and I think that’s the key to this consistency,” Sabalenka said.
The 27-year-old has hit 31 winners to Mboko’s 19, and has not lost a tiebreak at a major since the 2023 Roland Garros semi-finals against Karolina Muchova.
“What an incredible player for such a young age, it’s incredible to see these kids coming on tour,” Sabalenka said of Mboko. “[She] I pushed really hard today and I’m super happy with the win.”
By booking her 13th consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final, Sabalenka has taken a crucial step towards the ultimate prize, with her name engraved on the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup for the third time.
A general view of the Australian Open hall at Melbourne Park
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