Press releases

Sasnovich into Brisbane round of 16

MINSK, 5 January (BelTA) – Belarus’ Aliaksandra Sasnovich has advanced to the round of 16 at the 2026 Brisbane International, BelTA has learned.

In the round of 32, Belarus’ world number 113 defeated Russia’s world number 61 Anna Blinkova, 7-5, 6-1. In the first set, Aliaksandra Sasnovich was down 4-5 but managed to win by taking three consecutive games. The match lasted one hour and 25 minutes. Sasnovich’s next opponent will be Denmark’s Clara Tauson (No. 12). Aliaksandra Sasnovich earned her place in the main draw through the qualifying rounds, defeating Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova (No. 128) 6-2, 6-2 and Uzbekistan’s Maria Timofeeva (No. 138) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Reigning champion of the Brisbane International and world number one Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus will begin her title defense in the second round against Spain’s world number 50 Cristina Bucsa. A year ago, Aryna Sabalenka defeated Russia’s Polina Kudermetova in the final. In the first round of the doubles event, Aryna Sabalenka and Spain’s Paula Badosa defeated the Russian-Chinese tandem of Liudmila Samsonova and Zhang Shuai, and will face the Australian-Spanish duo of Ellen Perez and Cristina Bucsa in the quarterfinal.

The Brisbane tournament will be over on 11 January.

print version

make home page

add to bookmarks