![\"USA's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AFP__20260127__94422W4__v1__MidRes__TennisAusOpen-1769496243.jpg\")
Iva Jovic was unable to battle past the world number one [David Gray\/AFP]<\/p>\nWorld number one continues her march for a third Australian Open title with a 6-3, 6-0 win over American teen sensation Jovic.<\/p>\n
Aryna Sabalenka has handed 18-year-old \u200dAmerican Iva \u200dJovic a comprehensive 6-3, 6-0 defeat in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open to remain on course for her third title at Melbourne Park.<\/p>\n
The world number one, champion in 2023 \u200band 2024 and runner-up last year, made quick work of the teen tennis sensation at a sweltering Melbourne Park on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Sabalenka will now meet \u200deither Coco Gauff or Elina Svitolina for a place in Saturday\u2019s title match.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese teenagers have been testing me in the last couple of \u200drounds,\u201d said \u2060Sabalenka, who defeated 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko in the previous round.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t look at the score, it wasn\u2019t easy at all. She played incredible tennis, pushed me to one step better level. It was a tough battle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sabalenka made a blistering start, racing into a 3-0 lead \u200bin the opener, and Jovic was \u200cmade to work by the Belarusian to hold her serve in the fourth game to gain a foothold in the set.<\/p>\n
The teenager, appearing in her \u200cfirst Grand Slam quarterfinal, used her speed around the court to frustrate her more \u200cexperienced opponent, although Sabalenka eventually closed \u2060out the first set in less than an hour.<\/p>\n
The 27-year-old was even more dominant in the second set, firing a cross-court winner beyond \u200cJovic to break serve in the opening game.<\/p>\n
That put the four-time Grand Slam champion firmly in command, and she would \u200dgo on to convert another pair of break points to move ominously into the last four.<\/p>\n
Sabalenka said she would not stop until she has got the trophy in the bag in Melbourne.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think [for] every player, when they get to the tournament, it\u2019s trophy or nothing,\u201d she said. \u201cThe mentality is the same, and it\u2019s always in the back of your mind that obviously you want to win it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019m trying to shift my focus on the right things and taking it step by step and just trying my best in each match, each point, each game, each set.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sabalenka\u2019s match was played under an open roof on Rod Laver Arena in 38C (100F) heat, but it was not a worry for the world number one.<\/p>\n
On a 10-match win streak after victory at the lead-up Brisbane International, she called her second-set performance \u201camazing\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew that I have to step in and show the level and the class,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it really helped me kind of just go for my shots and help me to trust my game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Iva Jovic was unable to battle past the world number one [David Gray\/AFP]<\/p>\n
Defeat brought an end to a breakthrough tournament for Jovic, the youngest player in the women\u2019s top 100 and seeded 29.<\/p>\n
She stunned the seventh seed and two-time Grand Slam finalist Jasmine Paolini and blitzed past experienced Yulia Putintseva for the loss of just one game to announce herself to the world.<\/p>\n
But Sabalenka was a bridge too far.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Aryna played very well. I could have done some things differently, but that\u2019s tennis,\u201d she said after the loss.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s amazing what she\u2019s done for herself in her career.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very inspiring,\u201d she added of the four-time Grand Slam winner.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the way she\u2019s been able to use all the negative things \u2013 I know her story quite well.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the negative things that have happened to her on court and in her personal life as well, and turned them into motivation and fuel to be better, is amazing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope to get more chances to play against her, and she was very nice at the end of the match as well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"World number one continues her march for a third Australian Open title with a 6-3, 6-0 win over…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436141,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[6109,2840,49,48,44,457,82,593],"class_list":["post-436140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-asia-pacific","tag-australia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-news","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436140\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}