Sabalenka survives Pavlyuchenkova to make 10th major semifinal

Two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka survived a stern challenge from No.27 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to reach her third consecutive Australian Open semifinal, twice coming from a break down in the decider to advance 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 in 1 hour and 53 minutes. The middle set was the first Sabalenka had dropped in Melbourne since the 2023 final.

“I mean, I wasn’t [keeping my cool],” Sabalenka told press afterward. “I was all over the place. I’m really glad that at some point I was able to put myself back together, and I was able to, you know, just get back to the match. I was able to keep fighting, keep trying, and I was able to turn around this match. It was really difficult one.

“I was just trying to figure out how to play in these conditions. I was struggling a lot with finding my rhythm, finding the solution in these conditions. It’s not about being scared. It’s about finding the way out. I was struggling not in the beginning, actually. In the second set I was struggling with finding the way, but then I found one way.

“Praying. I was just praying. No. I think the main solution was just to stay low and just try to put an extra ball back on that side and stay focused and play with the discipline.”

Sabalenka becomes the first player since Maria Sharapova to reach 10 Grand Slam semifinals in her career. Sharapova hit the double-digit mark at the 2008 Australian Open, which would be the third of her five major titles.

Among players born after Sharapova, Sabalenka had previously been tied with Victoria Azarenka and Simona Halep on nine semifinals, one ahead of Angelique Kerber on eight, and two ahead of Caroline Wozniacki and Petra Kvitova on seven. Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek have each made six to date, and both could make their seventh this week