Elina Avanesyan is now 7-0 against players ranked No. 12 or higher after Badosa upset

There’s a giant-killer rising up the ranks on the WTA tour and she just struck again, this time on New Year’s Eve in Brisbane.

Elina Avanesyan pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the week on Tuesday, taking out No. 4-seeded—and No. 12-ranked—Paula Badosa in the second round of the WTA 500 event, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2.

And with that, the 22-year-old Armenian is now a perfect 7-0 in her career—yes, 7-0—against players ranked No. 12 or better. That includes three Top 10 wins and four against No. 11s or No. 12s.

ELINA AVANESYAN VS TOP 12 PLAYERS:
d. No. 12 Bencic in ’23 Roland Garros 1st Rd, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
d. No. 11 Kasatkina in ’23 Berlin 1st Rd, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7)
d. No. 8 Sakkari in ’24 Australian Open 2nd Rd, 6-4, 6-4
d. No. 6 Jabeur in ’24 Miami 2nd Rd, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3
d. No. 8 Zheng in ’24 Roland Garros 3rd Rd, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6)
d. No. 11 Ostapenko in ’24 Cincinnati 2nd Rd, 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
d. No. 12 Badosa in ’25 Brisbane 2nd Rd, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2

The highest-ranked players to defeat Avanesyan are a pair of world No. 15s—Jasmine Paolini in the fourth round of Roland Garros earlier this year, 4-6, 6-0, 6-1, and Liudmila Samsonova in the second round of Wimbledon earlier this year, 6-3, 6-3.

Avanesyan has had a meteoric rise up the WTA rankings over the last few years, breaking into the Top 100 in 2023 and the Top 50 in 2024. She’s currently at her career-high ranking of No. 43.

She first caught the eye of the tennis world at Roland Garros in 2023, where—as a lucky loser—she made it all the way to the fourth round, taking out then-No. 12 Bencic along the way before falling to eventual runner-up Karolina Muchova. She repeated that fourth-round showing in 2024, taking out then-No. 8 Zheng en route before falling again to the eventual runner-up, Paolini.

The Russian-born Armenian will face former world No. 2 Ons Jabeur in the third round of Brisbane on Thursday.