Ukrainian qualifier Yastremska tops Azarenka to reach maiden major quarter-final at Australian Open

Ukrainian qualifier Dayana Yastremska did her part to open a giant crack in the top half of the women’s draw on Monday in Melbourne, toppling two-time champion Victoria Azarenka 7-6 (6), 6-4 in Rod Laver Arena to ensure that a first-time Grand Slam finalist will emerge from the top half of the draw.

“My heart, I feel like it’s gonna jump out of my body,” a gleeful Yastremska told the crowd after her win.

23-year-old Yastremska, ranked No 93, will face Linda Noskova, who advanced when Elina Svitolina retired after just three games, in the last eight.

Yastremska came through a patchy opening set, saving a pair of set points with Azarenka serving for the set at 6-5, then rallying from 5-4 down in the tiebreak to take the lead.

The second set was no cakewalk, either. Yastremska fell behind 3-0 before turning up her high-octane ground game and winning six of the final seven games to lock up the victory.

“First set I was losing, the tiebreak I was losing, second set I was losing, I always felt like I was was running behind the train. But I think that Because I am a little bit of a fighter, that’s why I won this match.”

Yastremska is the first women’s singles qualifier to reach the quarter-finals at the Australian Open since Zhang Shuai in 2016. The last WTA qualifier to reach the last eight of a major was Emma Raducanu at the 2021 US Open.

Yastremska will be joined by fellow Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk in the quarterfinals.

The Ukrainian defeated No 7 seed Marketa Vondrousova (6-1, 6-2), Frenchwoman Varvara Gracheva (6-3, 6-2) and American Emma Navarro, the No 27 seed (6-2, 2-6, 6-1) ahead of her victory.

In the previous rounds, Azarenka, ranked No 22, beat Italian Camila Giorgi (6-1, 4-6, 6-3), Dane Clara Tauson (6-4, 3-6, 6-2) and Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, the No 11 seed (6-1, 7-5).

Melbourne (Grand Slam), other last 16 results (Melbourne Park, hard, USD 58.910.000, most recent results first):

• Qinwen Zheng vs. Oceane Dodin
• Jasmine Paolini vs. Anna Kalinskaya
• Linda Noskova beat Elina Svitolina (19): 3-0 ret.
• Barbora Krejcikova (9) beat Mirra Andreeva: 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
• Marta Kostyuk beat Maria Timofeeva (Q): 6-2, 6-1
• Aryna Sabalenka (2) beat Amanda Anisimova: 6-3, 6-2
• Coco Gauff (4) beat Magdalena Frech: 6-1, 6-2