In the Australian Open warm up Sabalenka overcomes Keys in straight sets to turn the tide

In five consecutive service games top-ranked Sabalenka defeated Keys 6-3, 6-3 in 1 1/2 hours on Friday to advance to the Brisbane International quarterfinals a crucial prelude to the Australian Open which starts on January 18.

"I'm so glad we made it through this challenging match" Sabalenka remarked. To be honest, I didn't really have the Australian Open nostalgia from the previous year.

"I am aware that I lost to her in Australia and it naturally serves as a strong incentive to go out and win. However I always approach the (next) match as though it were a brand-new matchup with a different player. That is how I go about it.

The 11th seeded Karolina Muchova who defeated Elena Rybakina 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 to snap the No. 3 seed's 13-match winning streak will next face the reigning Brisbane winner.

In their career head to head encounters Muchova has prevailed over Rybakina the 2022 Wimbledon champion who defeated Sabalenka to win the WTA Finals title in November. Against No. 1 Sabalenka Muchova has a 3-1 record as well.

"I don't care if I'm the one leading head to head or I'm the one losing I don't care" Sabalenka stated, adding that her main goal is to manage the emotions that occasionally got the better of her when she was younger.

"I used to get really irritated when I lost a match. Now I’m just trying to move on like OK, whatever,'” she said. "I feel like it's been working well for me, and that's my mentality these days."

Both Sabalenka and Keys had early breakpoint opportunities on a sweltering subtropical afternoon at Pat Rafter Arena but they were unsuccessful.

Sabalenka won six of the following seven games after taking the first service break in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead. The only break in that stretch came when Keys broke serve to open the second set.

Sabalenka pounced on anything short or at a slower pace putting tremendous strain on the 30-year-old American's second serve. She ended the match with eight double-faults and won just one-third of the points on her second serve.

In the eighth game of the second set Keys saved two match chances but it didn't stop Sabalenka from serving out at love.

Since that defeat at Melbourne Park over a year ago Sabalenka has defeated Keys twice in a row the other being 6-0, 6-1 in Indian Wells. She also won the U.S. Open advanced to the French Open final and placed second in the WTA Finals to round out the competitive season.

Earlier at the Brisbane event she described the season schedule as “insane” and claimed she’ll risk fines in order to skip tournaments to avoid injuries or exhaustion but still is hoping to get as many matches in as possible before the season's first major.

She stated "I just want to get some matches some wins and get the rhythm going again."