Carla Suarez Navarro defeated Varvara Lepchenko 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 in the quarter-finals of the Brisbane WTA 250 on hard court on 7 January 2016. As the pre-match favourite at odds of 1.43, Suarez Navarro recovered from dropping the opening set to edge a competitive second-set tie-break situation before securing the decisive third set. Lepchenko, at 3.1 odds, mounted a strong challenge but could not maintain her early momentum. The result kept Suarez Navarro on course in Brisbane and underlined her status as a dangerous hard-court operator at the start of the season.