High-ranked Sabalenka ends Mboko's singles run in fourth spherical at Australian Open

MELBOURNE – Victoria Mboko’s spectacular singles run on the Australian Open got here to a halt within the fourth spherical on Sunday in Melbourne.

The Toronto teen, seeded seventeenth within the prestigious Grand Slam occasion, was bounced by Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus — the world’s top-ranked feminine participant — 6-1, 7-6 (1) in a single hour 26 minutes inside Rod Laver Enviornment.

Sabalenka, who wanted solely 34 minutes to take the primary set, completed with six aces, three double faults, 27 winners and 24 unforced errors.

Victoria Mboko of Canada performs a forehand return to Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus throughout their fourth spherical match on the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photograph/Dita Alangkara)

Mboko, who discovered her recreation within the second set and compelled her top-ranked opponent to dig deep within the second-set tiebreaker, completed with three aces, three double faults, 19 winners and 20 unforced errors.

Mboko made issues attention-grabbing within the second set when she rallied from a 4-1 deficit to pressure the tiebreaker, however Sabalenka discovered an additional gear and completed the match.

Sabalenka will face the winner of a match between American Iva Jovic and Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan within the quarterfinals.

In the meantime, within the third spherical of ladies’s doubles, Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa and her accomplice Luisa Stefani of Brazil beat Cristina Bucsa of Moldova and Nicole Melich-Martinez 6-4, 6-3 in a single hour 25 minutes.

Dabrowski and her accomplice will face the winner of a match between the third-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia and Su-Wei Hsieh of Taiwan, and American Sofia Kenin and Laura Siegemund of German within the fourth spherical.

This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed Jan. 24, 2026.