Reaching the quarterfinals in Brisbane, where she won her maiden WTA title in 2009, when the tournament was held for the first time, Victoria Azarenka is definitely in familiar territory.
In her fifth visit to the crucial Australian Open warm-up tournament, the 34-year-old Azarenka defeated France’s Clara Burel 7-5, 6-2 on Thursday to go to the quarterfinals.
Next up for former No. 1 seed Azarenka is third-seeded Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion who defeated big-serving three-time Brisbane International winner Karolina Pliskova 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. Azarenka is a two-time champion of the Australian Open.
Despite defeating another former No. 1 in Naomi Osaka in the second round and on a 10-match winning streak in Brisbane going into the match, Pliskova was frequently at a disadvantage as Ostapenko struck 50 wins.
Day 5 at Pat Rafter Arena saw Azarenka get off to a fast 4-1 lead before holding off a challenge from Burel, ranked No. 56. In the second set, she gained an early break and completed the match in 92 minutes.
“I felt like I could step it up whenever I needed to,” Azarenka remarked.
Later on Thursday, the top two seeds would face off.
Aryna Sabalenka, the Australian Open champion and Azarenka’s countrywoman, was competing against Zhu Lin at night. Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon winner ranked second, was slated to play Elise Mertens, ranked thirteenth.
In the men’s draw, Grigor Dimitrov, the 2017 winner, defeated Daniel Altmaier 6-1, 6-2, in just over an hour. The second-seeded Dimitrov made only five unforced errors, hit twenty winners, and didn’t encounter a break point until he was serving for the match, when he had to save three while rallying from a 15–40 deficit.
“At first, I was moving extremely well. He remarked, “I was reading the ball.” I must have done a lot of good things. Really pleased with that.
The Australian wild-card entrant Rinky Hijikata, who defeated Czech qualifier Tomas Machac 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (4), will take on Dimitrov next.
In a night match, local Jason Kubler was up against 22-time major winner Rafael Nadal, who is playing in Brisbane on a wild card after missing 12 months due to a hip injury.
The victor of that match will play Jordan Thompson in the quarterfinals. Thompson defeated fourth-seeded Ugo Humbert in their second-round match due to sickness.
