It is the rematch on Australian soil that pundits and a pair of Australian Open champions have been quietly hoping for – Arnya Sabalenka v Madison Keys.
It is quarterfinal Friday at the Brisbane International and two of the heaviest ball-strikers on tour will stand toe-to-toe for the eighth time at Pat Rafter Arena.
While Sabalenka owns five wins between the two and has since beaten the American in a lopsided Indian Wells semifinal, their encounter in the Queensland capital is their first Down Under since the disrupter Keys’ derailment of the world No.1’s bid for a three-peat at Melbourne Park last January.
Weeks after Sabalenka picked up her maiden Brisbane trophy a year ago, Keys narrowly pulled off the improbable upset in the AO title match.
It halted Sabalenka’s shot at becoming the first player since Martina Hingis in 1999 to land three straight titles at Melbourne Park and netted her maiden Grand Slam crown.
Sabalenka atoned for that setback when she successfully defended her US Open crown and was poised for the Keys rematch on Australian turf.
“After Australian Open we played in Indian Wells and I got my win back, but here, specifically in Australia, of course I'd like to get the revenge,” Sabalenka said following a 6-3 6-3 win over Sorana Cirstea. “If it's going to be Keys, it's going to be, as always, a great battle, really aggressive tennis. I'm excited to face her.”
Keys did it the hard way on Thursday, forced the distance before she finally shook 12th seed Diana Shnaider 6-7(5) 7-6(5) 7-6(4) in almost three hours.
It extended her unbeaten streak in Australia to 14 matches.
“It’s always good to start the year with a little bit of drama, so glad we got that out of the way,” Keys said.
Men’s top seed Daniil Medvedev will meet Polish lucky loser Kamil Majchrzak for the first time as he bids for his first Brisbane semifinal since 2019.
Medvedev has looked razor sharp from the off this week, conceding just five games against both Marton Fucsovics and former world No.10 Frances Tiafoe.
His next opponent, 59th-ranked Majchrzak, had two impressive runs at the majors last year – first at Wimbledon where he beat former finalist Matteo Berrettini en route to the fourth round, before an upset of ninth seed Karen Khachanov at the US Open to reach the third round.
“I'm really happy with the way I played the two matches, kind of continuing what I started doing in the end of the last year already playing better and better,” Medvedev said. “But these two matches I think were even better, and I'm happy, you know, that some things I worked in the pre-season seemed to work here. But again, this is just a start, just a small step, and looking forward.”
Women’s third seed Elena Rybakina has been impossible to stop since a quarterfinal defeat to Sabalenka in Wuhan last October.
The 26-year-old outplayed all before her on title runs at Ningbo and the WTA Finals, where she avenged her loss to Sabalenka.
A walkover in the Tokyo semifinals to Linda Noskova was the only blip and after opening her 2026 Brisbane campaign with a straight-sets victories over Zhang Shuai and former world No.2 Paula Badosa, she extended her unbeaten streak to 13 matches.
Her quarterfinal opponent, 11th seed Karolina Muchova, is considered one of the most gifted ball-strikers on tour and will carry the confidence of having beaten the former Wimbledon champion in one of their two prior meetings.
The Czech fought through arguably the match of the women’s tournament to date when she snuck past Ajla Tomljanovic in the first round before she backed it up with a straight-sets win over seventh seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.
In other quarterfinals at Pat Rafter Arena on Friday, Belgian qualifier Raphael Collignon or two-time former champion Grigor Dimitrov will face American Brandon Nakashima, while women’s second seed Amanda Anisimova or Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk will meet sixth seed Mirra Andreeva or ninth seed Linda Noskova.
Don’t miss out on the chance to be part of one of the most exciting tournaments of the year. Tickets for the Brisbane International are on sale via Ticketmaster. Prices start at $30. Premium Experiences are on sale via Ticketmaster and the Premium Experiences Team.