Two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka continued her Melbourne Park mastery on Thursday night to book a spot in her third consecutive final at the Australian Open.
The World No.1 defeated No.11 seed Paula Badosa 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals to win her 20th straight match at the season’s first major to set a meeting with Madison Keys who stunned Iga Swiatek.
Badosa opened the match in near-perfect form, with play initially starting under a partially opened roof at Rod Laver Arena before it was fully closed due to rain. Badosa held a 2-0, 40-0 lead but could not convert her triple-game point. Sabalenka steadied herself to break Badosa in an eight-minute game to put the match back on serve, and the World No.1 ran off four consecutive games.
“After Love-2, Love-40, after that I’d rate that I played really great tennis,” Sabalenka said. “I mean, I played an incredible match, I think.
“I think when I broke her twice and I was 3-2 up, I felt like, Okay, I’m back. I felt my game much better. I was like, Okay, now it’s time to step in.”
After building a comfortable 4-2 lead, Sabalenka never looked back. She did not face another break point in the 1-hour and 26-minute match.
Sabalenka finished the match with 26 winners to 18 unforced errors, while Badosa could manage only eight winners along with 14 unforced errors.
“The first set was really tight, a good level,” Badosa said. “Then in the second set she started to be very, very aggressive. Everything was working. Everything she was doing today, touching today, could become gold. She played the best match not even of the week. From the last months, for sure.
“If she plays like this, I mean, we can already give her the trophy.”
Sabalenka will now face No.19 seed Madison Keys saved one match point to stun No.2 seed Iga Swiatek 5-7, 6-1, 7-6[8] in the Australian Open semifinals, advancing to the second Grand Slam final of her career following the 2017 US Open.
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