London: World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus has booked her place in the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon Championships, the third Grand Slam of the tennis season, following a straight-sets victory over Belgium's Elise Mertens, ranked 24th globally. According to Qatar News Agency, Sabalenka, one of the top contenders for the title, secured the win in one hour and 30 minutes with a scoreline of 6-4, 7-6, in their Round of 16 clash on Saturday evening. Although the 27-year-old has never reached the Wimbledon final before, she now stands as the last remaining top-six seed in the women's draw, after the exits of Coco Gauff (No. 2), Jessica Pegula (No. 3), Madison Keys (No. 6), Jasmine Paolini (No. 4), and Zheng Qinwen (No. 5). A three-time Grand Slam champion, Sabalenka missed Wimbledon last year due to injury and was barred from competing in 2022 following the ban on Russian and Belarusian players over the ongoing war in Ukraine, which began in February 2022. She will face Germany's Laura Siegemund in the quar terfinals on Tuesday, after Siegemund defeated Argentina's Solana Sierra in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2. In another Round of 16 result, Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova also advanced to the quarterfinals after dispatching Britain's Sonay Kartal in straight sets, 7-6, 6-4. Pavlyuchenkova will next face the winner of the match between 12th seed Amanda Anisimova of the United States and 27th seed Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic.
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