Aryna Sabalenka remains on course for a historic third straight Australian Open title after beating No. 11 seed and close friend Paula Badosa 6-4 6-2 in Thursday’s first semifinal.
The world No. 1 is aiming to become the first woman since Martina Hingis between 1997 and 1999 to win three consecutive titles Down Under.
In her quarterfinal against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Sabalenka dropped a set at the Australian Open for the first time since the 2023 final, but she was back to her ruthless best against Badosa.
Sabelenka, who described Badosa as a “soulmate” this week, suffered a surprise break of serve early in the first set to allow the Spaniard to open up a 2-0 lead.
However, she soon found her feet and won four games in a row to turn the opening set on its head, eventually sealing it with a booming ace.
The second set was Sabelenka at her best. After the opening game, she went on to win five straight games to take a commanding lead that Badosa never looked like clawing back.
The friends shared a warm embrace at the net at the conclusion of the match, before they were seen talking and smiling together in the players’ gym.
“I hope she’s still my friend,” Sabalenka said in her on-court interview. “I’m sure she’ll hate me for the next hour or day or two, I’m okay with that. I can handle that.
“After that I think we’re back to being friends, back to going out together, shopping. I promise Paula, if she’s watching, that we’ll go shopping and I’ll pay for whatever she wants.”
During her interview, Sabalenka was told she would join a list of the legendary names to win three straight Australian Open titles: Margaret Court, Evon Goolagong, Steffi Graff and Hingis.
“You just saying that, I have goosebumps,” Sabalenka responded. “Honestly, I’m so proud of myself, I’m proud of my team that we were able to put ourselves in such a situation, and it’s a privilege.
“If I’m able to put my name in history, it’s going to mean a lot. It’s going to mean the world for me. I couldn’t even dream about that, to be honest. First I was dreaming to win at least one grand slam.
“Now I have this opportunity, it’s incredible and I’m going to go out and leave everything I have in the final.”
Sabalenka will face either Iga Świątek or Madison Keys in Saturday’s final.
Source: edition.cnn.com