Coco Gauff fought from a set down to beat Belinda Bencic and join defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in the Australian Open quarter-finals.

The American third seed was not at her best but outlasted Switzerland’s Bencic 5-7 6-2 6-1.

Earlier, Sabalenka breezed past Russian 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva in a 6-1 6-2 victory.

Gauff’s victory in 34 degree heat – the hottest day of the tournament so far – extends the 20-year-old winning run to 11 matches.

“Maybe a couple of years ago, if I lost the first set I might lose the match, and I remember my dad said ‘we’ve got to toughen you up’,” said Gauff.

“I was just trying to put myself in the position where I could leave the court and feel proud of myself.”

Belarusian top seed Sabalenka, 26, meanwhile, remains on course for her third straight Australian Open title after wrapping up her win over Andreeva in just 62 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.

It was the two-time champion’s 18th win in a row at Melbourne Park, and sets up a quarter-final tie with another Russian, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

She beat Croatia’s Donna Vekic 7-6 (7-0) 6-0 in the fourth round earlier on Sunday.

Gauff will play 11th seed Paula Badosa in the last eight after the Spaniard defeated Serbia’s Olga Danilovic 6-1 7-6.

Should they both win their quarter-final ties, Sabalenka and Gauff will meet in the semi-finals.