Jovic, 18, sets up Sabalenka quarter-final in Melbourne

Teenager Iva Jovic says she is “really excited” to test herself against “the best” after booking a maiden Grand Slam quarter-final against world number one Aryna Sabalenka at the Australian Open.

American Jovic, who turned 18 in December, dropped only one game in a convincing 6-0 6-1 win against Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva.

Earlier on Sunday, two-time Australian Open champion Sabalenka defeated another of tennis’ rising stars – 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko – 6-1 7-6 (7-1) on Rod Laver Arena.

Asked about meeting Sabalenka in the next round, Jovic said: “I think I’m just going to try to keep taking care of my side of the net.

“Obviously she’s number one for a reason and has had so much success at this tournament, but that’s what I want.

“I said last year that I hoped to be able to play here this year, because you definitely want to play the best and see how it goes. I’m really excited.”

Jovic, who is the 29th seed in Melbourne, had not previously been beyond the second round of a major.

She backed up a straight-set win over seventh seed Jasmine Paolini, her first victory against a player ranked in the world’s top 10, by breezing through her fourth-round tie against Putintseva in just 53 minutes.

Jovic said earlier in the event that she was grateful for the advice gained from a meeting with 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic.

Speaking after his third-round win on Saturday, Djokovic said Jovic “has all the tools” to become “a future champion and a future number one”.

Like Jovic, Belarusian Sabalenka is yet to drop a set at this year’s Australian Open.

She has now reached at least the quarter-finals in 13 consecutive Grand Slam appearances and is two wins away from a fourth successive final in Melbourne.

The champion in 2023 and 2024, she lost last year’s final to American Madison Keys.

The 27-year-old appeared to be cruising towards a comfortable victory against 17th seed Mboko, leading by a set and a double break.

However, she almost let a 4-1 lead slip in the second set and eventually clinched victory in a tie-break – the 20th in a row she has won in a Slam, beating Novak Djokovic’s previous record.

“She’s an amazing player, it was quite a fight and I’m super happy that I was able to close this match in straight sets,” said Sabalenka.

“The second set was a bit tricky but I’m happy with the level I played and happy to be through.”

Coco Gauff made it safely through to the quarter-finals in Melbourne for a third successive year with a resilient win over Czech 19th seed Karolina Muchova.

The world number three raced through the first set, but Muchova pulled back in the second before Gauff held her nerve to serve out the 6-1 3-6 6-3 victory on her fourth match point.

Gauff, a two-time major champion, has gone on to win all four tournaments in which she has faced Muchova – including the 2023 US Open.

However, she has never reached the final at Melbourne.

The 21-year-old will face Russian eighth seed Mirra Andreeva or Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, seeded 12th, in the quarter-finals.

Speaking after her win, Gauff credited her run to the last eight to “trusting myself”.

“My history has been tough with the serve but I think today was great, there was one loose serve in the second set but after that it was pretty good,” she said.

“That’s the biggest thing, just trusting myself and knowing that I’ve put in the work in practice and knowing it will show up in the matches.

Gauff then wrote “confidence is the key” on a camera lens after the victory, which improved her head-to-head record with Muchova to 5-0.