Defending Champion Aryna Sabalenka continued her dominant run towards defending her Australian Open title with a straight-set victory over Barbora Krejcikova in the quarterfinals. The world number two has yet to drop a set in Melbourne, and she defeated ninth seed Krejcikova 6-2, 6-3 in a 71-minute battle.
Sabalenka’s next opponent in the semi-finals will be American teenager Coco Gauff, who dropped her first set of the tournament while defeating world No. 35 Marta Kostyuk in the last eight. Gauff defeated the 25-year-old Belarusian in the 2023 US Open final, but the second seed is expected to start as the favorite this time due to her spectacular play over the last 10 days.
The only surprise is Sabalenka’s dominance as she advances to her sixth consecutive Grand Slam semi-final. Before facing the 28-year-old CZECH player in the quarters, Sabalenka had only dropped 11 games in four matches and was quickly in charge of the ninth seed. In the third set, Sabalenka took a break with an angled cross-court forehand before forcing an error with a strong return to lead 4-1.
Krejcikova showed some resilience as she broke straight back, boosted by Sabalenka’s double fault and missed backhand. But dreams of a comeback were dashed as Sabalenka won the next game and finished the set with a love hold.
Sabalenka continued to have too much firepower for Krejcikova in the second set, hitting back-to-back forehand winners to hold to love in her first service game. Krejcikova had no answers for her opponent’s brilliance and conceded another break in the third game. Another dismissive Sabalenka forehand gave her a chance for a 4-1 lead, which she took when Krejcikova went wide with a backhand.
Krejcikova delayed Sabalenka’s march to win by recovering one break and then holding serve. But, just as Krejcikova appeared to be catching up, Sabalenka hammered a forehand winner into the corner, followed by two massive serves, to take a 5-3 lead. With pure dominance, the reigning champion closed out a one-sided victory with a break to love.
It was a great match today, I played great tennis. I hope that I can keep playing that way or even better, Sabalenka admitted. I think I have the best support here in Melbourne. I’ve been working so hard last year and in pre-season. It’s all about hard work, giving it all on the practice court so you’re ready for a match as best as you can be, the Belarusian concluded.
