Pavlyuchenkova wears down ailing Vekic to reach last eight

Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the No 27 seed, won against Croat Donna Vekic, the No 18 seed, 7-6, 6-0 to advance to the last eight of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Sunday night.

Pavlyuchenkova, ranked No 32, will play Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, the top seed, next. It’s the Russian’s fourth time in the quarter-finals in Melbourne, but first since 2020.

Vekic fought hard in the first set but was struggling with a knee injury in the second and Pavlyuchenkova pulled away for victory.

The 33-year-old Russian defeated Chinese Yue Yuan (6-4, 4-6, 6-3), Anastasia Potapova (7-6 (2), 2-6, 6-2) and German Laura Siegemund (6-1, 6-2) in the previous rounds of the first Grand Slam tournament of the 2025 season.

Earlier in the tournament, Vekic, ranked No 19, beat Frenchwoman Diane Parry (6-4, 6-4), lucky loser Harriet Dart (4-6, 6-0, 6-2) and Russian Diana Shnaider, the No 12 seed (7-6 (4), 6-7 (3), 7-5).

Melbourne (Grand Slam), other last 16 results (Melbourne Park, hard, USD 60.627.573, most recent results first):

• Eva Lys vs. Iga Swiatek
• Emma Navarro vs. Daria Kasatkina
• Veronika Kudermetova vs. Elina Svitolina
• Elena Rybakina vs. Madison Keys
• Coco Gauff vs. Belinda Bencic: sunday
• Paula Badosa (11) beat Olga Danilovic: 6-1, 7-6 (2)
• Aryna Sabalenka beat Mirra Andreeva (14): 6-1, 6-2