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Sabalenka begins title defense in Brisbane with emphatic win

Aryna Sabalenka. Photo courtesy of the NOC of Belarus

MINSK, 6 January (BelTA) – Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus has launched her title defense with a win at the 2026 Brisbane International in Australia, with a prize fund of $1.2 million, BelTA has learned.

In the round of 32 on 6 January, the world number one defeated Spain’s Cristina Bucsa (No.50), with a convincing score of 6-0, 6-1. In the third round, Sabalenka will face the winner of the match between Latvian tennis player Jelena Ostapenko (No.23) and Romanian Sorana Cirstea (No.41). In 2025, Aryna Sabalenka defeated Russian tennis player Polina Kudermetova in the decisive final. In the first round of doubles, Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa of Spain defeated the Russian-Chinese tandem of Liudmila Samsonova and Zhang Shuai, and will meet the Australian-Spanish duo of Ellen Perez and Cristina Bucsa in the quarterfinals.

Another Belarusian, Aliaksandra Sasnovich (No.113), defeated Russian Anna Blinkova (No.61) 7-5, 6-1 in the first round, and will face Denmark’s Clara Tauson (No.12) in the round of 32. Aliaksandra Sasnovich made it into the main draw through qualifying, defeating Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova (No.128) 6-2, 6-2, and Uzbekistan’s Maria Timofeeva (No.138) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.

The 2026 Brisbane International tournament will conclude on 11 January.

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