BRISBANE: Novak Djok­ovic and Aryna Sabalenka were in ominous form ahead of the Australian Open as both powered into the Brisbane Intern­ational quarter-finals on Thursday.

On a day when rising stars Mirra Andreeva and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard underlined their potential, Djokovic crui­sed past fellow veteran Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-3 in 72 minutes.

In the women’s draw, world number one Sabalenka — who is aiming to win the Australian Open for the third time in a row — beat Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva 7-6 (7-2), 6-4.

Third seed Daria Kasatkina fell to a 1-6, 6-2, 7-5 defeat against fellow Russian Polina Kudermetova while two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka also crashed out after the Belarusian was defeated 6-4, 6-4 by Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic.

Djokovic and Monfils played an entertaining match, but the 37-year-old Serb was always in control as he notched his 20th straight win over the Frenchman.

Former world number one Djokovic plays giant American Reilly Opelka in the last eight. Opelka got past Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi 7-6(9), 7-6(4).

“We’ve been playing a long time, I’ve known Gael since I was 15 and he was 16,” said Djokovic, who is pursuing a record 25th Grand Slam singles title when the Australian Open begins on Jan 12.

“I’ve had a good score against him over the years but we’ve had some incredible battles on different surfaces. Hopefully we can play some more before we both retire.”

The 17-year-old Russian And­r­eeva demolished Linda Noskova 6-3, 6-0 in the women’s draw while Mpetshi Perricard downed fourth-seeded Amer­ican Frances Tiafoe 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) to reach the quarter-finals. The 19-year-old Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic routed Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic 6-3, 6-2.

A year after losing to the same player at the season-opening event, Andreeva displayed her improvement over 2024 with a 63-minute romp over the Czech Republic’s Noskova.

The teenager next faces Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur who, after overcoming a shoulder injury that ended her 2024 season early, also dug deep to defeat Armenia’s Elina Avanesyan 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 and reach her first tour quarter-final since the Berlin Open in June.

“Last year she [Noskova] alm­ost killed me in the quarter-finals so I was thinking it’s time to take my revenge,” Andreeva said.

The Russian started the year ranked 16th in the world and is tipped by many to challenge for a Grand Slam in 2025.

“My number one goal for the 2025 season is to crack the top 10,” said Andreeva, who is coached by former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez.

The towering Mpetshi Perricard, 21, who beat Australian Nick Kyrgios in an entertaining round-one clash, again served superbly to defeat US Open semi-finalist Tiafoe.

After serving 36 aces in his three-set win over Kyrgios, the Frenchman sent down another 20 against the more experienced Tiafoe.

Mpetshi Perricard plays the 19-year-old Czech Jakub Mensik.

“It was a good match, not very easy to play against Francis,” Mpetshi Perricard said. “The first set was very tight on serve but I managed to put some pressure on his second serve and it worked.”

Published in Dawn, January 3rd, 2025