Aryna Sabalenka advances in Brisbane as Daria Kasatkina and Victoria Azarenka exit

No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka successfully navigated a challenging encounter against 15th-seeded Yulia Putintseva, achieving a 7-6 (2), 6-4 victory in the Round of 16 at the Brisbane International in Australia on Thursday.

The Belarusian player rallied from a 5-3 deficit in the first set and concluded the match with six aces, defeating the Russian-born Kazakhstani in a duration of 1 hour and 49 minutes.

While Sabalenka progressed to the next round, third-seeded Daria Kasatkina of Russia and 10th-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus faced elimination. Polina Kudermetova of Russia triumphed over Kasatkina with a score of 1-6, 6-2, 7-5, while Czech player Marie Bouzkova secured a 6-4, 6-4 victory against Azarenka. Eighth-seeded Mirra Andreeva from Russia eliminated the 12th-seeded Czech Linda Noskova with a decisive 6-3, 6-0 win in just 63 minutes.

Additionally, on Thursday, Ons Jabeur of Tunisia achieved a 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 victory over Elina Avanesyan of Armenia, and Anhelina Kalinina from Ukraine comfortably defeated Yuan Yue of China with a score of 6-1, 6-4. Ashlyn Kreuger claimed a 7-5, 6-0 win against Suzan Lamens of the Netherlands, while Australian Kimberly Birrell recorded a 7-6 (2), 6-2 victory over Anastasia Potapova of Russia.

In the ASB Classic, top-seeded Madison Keys advanced to the quarterfinals with a commanding 6-1, 6-2 win over Jaqueline Cristian of Romania in Auckland, New Zealand.

Keys delivered three aces and capitalized on five double faults from her opponent, completing the match in 67 minutes and setting up a quarterfinal clash against fifth-seeded Clara Tauson of Denmark.

Other American players, including Hailey Baptiste, Alycia Parks, and Robin Montgomery, also achieved victories on Thursday.

Baptiste recovered from an initial setback in the first set to achieve a victory of 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (6) against Jodie Burrage from Great Britain. Meanwhile, Parks claimed a win with a score of 7-5, 6-3 against Greet Minnen of Belgium, and Montgomery easily defeated Nao Hibino from Japan with a score of 6-2, 6-2.