Relieved world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka has survived a second-set wobble against Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko to keep her plans of regaining her Australian Open crown on track.
Sabalenka was unable to serve out the match on her first opportunity before closing out the contest 6-1 7-6 (7-1) to surge into her 13th consecutive grand slam quarter-final.
Fans barely had time to take their seats for the day session at Rod Laver Arena before Sabalenka steamed through the opening set of their fourth-round clash in 31 minutes.
Mboko won her first service game but the rest of the set was one-way traffic with the two-time AO champion appearing to turn the outing into a Sunday stroll.
Building a reputation as a three-set specialist, Mboko worked her way into the match in the second set and from 4-1 down levelled at 5-5 with Sabalenka blowing three match points.
But the big-serving Belarusian regained her focus in the tiebreaker and roared to victory in 86 minutes.
"What an incredible player for such a young age," Sabalenka said.
"These kids coming up on tour ... an incredible player who pushed me really hard today.
"I'm super happy with the win and, once again, in straight sets.
"She played incredible tennis. She pushed me so much, and happy to be through."
While Mboko has had a meteoric rise to world No.16 after starting 2025 outside the top 300, but this was new territory with the talented young gun playing her first grand slam fourth-round match and her first time in in the senior Australian Open draw.
Sabalenka, who has two US Open titles in her haul of four majors, fired 31 winners to her opponent's 19, while also forcing the 19-year-old into 24 errors.
The superstar top seed was also guilty of 24 unforced errors with the bulk coming in the second set, but Mboko was unable to take full advantage.
The 27-year-old is looking to make amends for her three-set loss in last year's final against Madison Keys, which halted her run of Australian Open crowns at two.
Sabalenka has set up a quarter-final clash with the winner of the match between American teenager Iva Jovic and Kazakhstani Yulia Putintseva.
In a later match at Rod Laver Arena today, the top-seeded man Carlos Alcaraz of Spain faced American No. 19 Tommy Paul for a spot in the quarter-finals.
Alexander Zverev and Coco Gauff, the third seeds on the men and women's side, also played later for spots in the quarterfinals.
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