Aryna Sabalenka has continued her winning streak at the Australian Open after beating Mirra Andreeva in straight sets.
Sabalenka has now won 18 consecutive matches at the Australian Open, becoming the youngest player to achieve this feat since Serena Williams in 2004.
The world number one has made an impressive start to 2025, with Sabalenka winning the Brisbane International to begin her season.
Despite Sabalenka claiming the courts are more challenging at the Australian Open this year, she has still managed to reach another quarter-final in Melbourne without dropping a set.
This is not the only change that she has commented on, with Sabalenka critical of the Australian Open’s new coaching setup.
What did Pam Shriver say about the Australian Open schedule?
Sabalenka began the day session on Rod Laver Arena for her fourth round match against Andreeva, as the Australian Open moves into its second week.
However, the tournament received has criticism for its scheduling after people noticed that all the women’s singles matches were put before the men’s singles matches on day eight.
One of the more noteworthy people to call out this decision is 22-time major winner Pam Shriver, who is also the current coach of Donna Vekic.
Vekic was one of those players scheduled early on the John Cain Arena, with Shriver suggesting that the Australian Open were trying to get women’s matches out of the way.
“What is going on with AO scheduling?” questioned Shriver on X (formerly known as Twitter). “Is it a race to get women’s matches out of the way as early as possible on all courts?”
This is not the first time that the tournament has been criticised in 2025, with fans being annoyed by the Australian Open’s scheduling of Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic.
How has Aryna Sabalenka responded to Pam Shriver?
When in the press conference after her comprehensive victory over Andreeva, Sabalenka was relayed the comments that Shriver had made about the scheduling.
However, it appears that Sabalenka is not so critical of the tournament’s decision to put her on in the heat of the day after explaining the positives that it brings her.
“I like to play both, because if you finish early, then you have time for dinner, to relax. You’re not that late. Your sleep is better,” explained Sabalenka. “Also, of course, I like to play 7:00 p.m. matches. Not the second after 7:00, after guys. I don’t want that, because yeah, it’s the full stadium. It’s a great atmosphere. I like both.
“I don’t know. The first day I played 7:00 p.m. Like I think yesterday was 7:00 p.m. girls matches. I’m not sure about that. I mean, so far I’m happy with the scheduling. I cannot relate to this.”
Sabalenka will now play former Roland Garros finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the Australian Open quarter-finals, who she actually has a losing head-to-head against.
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