Match Report | WTA Brisbane: Sabalenka defeats Keys, Muhova ends Rybarikova's 13-match winning streak

On January 9th Beijing time, the 2026 WTA Brisbane tournament held the women's singles quarterfinals. World No.1 and defending champion Sabalenka faced last year's Australian Open singles champion Keys across the net, and after a 1 hour 29 minute battle of offense, Sabalenka won 6-3, 6-3.

Sabalenka

Sabalenka and Keys played a memorable three-set final at last year's Australian Open, both unleashing full power until the very end, with Keys finally ending Sabalenka's bid for a third consecutive title to claim the Grand Slam crown. Nearly a year later, they met again in Australia, where Sabalenka maintained control throughout and secured a straight-sets victory.

In an earlier match, Czech player Muhova continued her excellent form at this event. After eliminating then-No.10 Alexandrova in the previous round, she defeated No.5 Rybarikova 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 this round, ending Rybarikova's 13-match winning streak that started at last year's WTA Ningbo tournament, and reached the semifinals here for the first time.

The tournament's 4th seed Pegula performed strongly on Court 1, overcoming a 2-4 deficit in the second set to ultimately beat longtime rival Samsonova 6-3, 7-6(3) and advance to the semifinals. She will face 16th seed Kostyuk, who defeated 6th seed Andreyeva 7-6(7), 6-3.

WTA Brisbane Semifinal Matchups

[1] Sabalenka vs Muhova [11]

[4] Pegula vs Kostyuk [16]

In doubles, top seeds Hsieh Su-wei and Ostapenko defeated the Kichenok sisters 6-2, 6-4 to reach the final, where they will face the 3rd seeds Buksa and Perez for the title.

(Text and editing by Dato, photos by Li Jianyi)