Elena Rybakina cruised into the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International with a straight-sets win over Paula Badosa.

Coming off her WTA Finals title at the end of 2025, Rybakina enters the tournament as the third seed and a strong favourite.

While she has already mentioned that winning Brisbane isn’t her main focus, she remains unbeaten in sets so far this week.

Even with her clean record, Rybakina noted one aspect of her game she wants to sharpen ahead of her next match.

Elena Rybakina says she ‘struggled’ against Paula Badosa despite win

Photo by Wang He/Getty Images

Rybakina’s next test is against 11th seed Karolína Muchova, and she’s already hinted at the adjustments she feels are needed to come out on top.

After the match, Rybakina told reporters: “It’s always tough battles against Paula. She has great shots, she plays really fast and has a very good serve, so it was not easy.

“I started a little bit slow and was struggling with my serve too. But I’m happy that I managed to win. I was trying to focus one [game] at a time.”

Serving is typically one of Rybakina’s strongest areas, so any issues in that part of her game will be something she wants to iron out ahead of the Australian Open.

If Rybakina gets past Muchova, there could be an exciting semi-final meeting with either Madison Keys or Aryna Sabalenka waiting for her.

Rybakina backed to win Australian Open title

Stubbs feels that Rybakina will be a name other players are wary of heading into the first major of the year.

“Rybakina has had a bit of an up-and-down year, but I think we really need to watch out for her in Australia. “She crushed Sabalenka a few years ago in Brisbane, then she played in Adelaide and had a small Achilles tendon issue flare up again, before losing an epic tie-break to Blinkova in Melbourne.

“I think she should have won the Australian Open that year, after what she managed against Sabalenka the week before. But she will be there, and she will be among the favorites. And no player wants to face her. None.”

“She doesn’t have many weaknesses, her serve is huge. She probably has the most powerful and best serve in women’s tennis. One of the best backhands I’ve ever seen.

So she will clearly be among the contenders for the title at the Australian Open.”

This year’s Australian Open is also live on discovery+, with every match available on their streaming platform until 2026.