Sabalenka, Badosa advance in 2026 Brisbane doubles event

MINSK, 5 January (BelTA) - Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus and Spain's Paula Badosa have moved into the second round of the doubles event at the 2026 Brisbane International, BelTA has learned.

In the round of 16, the Belarusian-Spanish tandem defeated the Russian-Chinese duo of Liudmila Samsonova and Zhang Shuai in two tie-breakers: 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-3). In the quarterfinal, Sabalenka and Badosa will face the Australian-Spanish pair of Ellen Perez and Cristina Bucsa.

In the singles round of 32, Aryna Sabalenka will play either Cristina Bucsa (world No. 28) or Hungary’s Anna Bondar (No. 74). Sabalenka won this tournament last year, defeating Russia’s Polina Kudermetova in the final.

Also competing in the current Brisbane tournament is Belarus’ world number 114 Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who earned a spot in the main draw through the qualifying. She defeated Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova (No. 131) 6-2, 6-2 and Uzbekistan’s Maria Timofeeva (No. 141) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. In the round of 32, Sasnovich’s opponent will be Russia’s world number 62 Anna Blinkova.

The Brisbane International tournament will conclude on 11 January. Afterwards, the world’s top tennis players will head to Melbourne for the season’s first Grand Slam tournament, the Australian Open, which is due on 18 January – 1 February.