Sabalenka ‘finds way out’ with final-set escape against Pavlyuchenkova
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After coming as close to defeat in Melbourne as she has for three long years, trailing by a break in the nerve-racking final set of her quarter-final match, Aryna Sabalenka drew on her unshakable mental toughness to find a way through to the semi-finals of the Australian Open with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
With an important victory, Sabalenka, the No 1 seed and two-time defending champion, has extended her winning streak at the Australian Open to 20 matches and she has now won 29 of her last 30 matches in Australia. Sabalenka, who is also 10-0 in 2025, had also won 25 consecutive sets in Melbourne until Tuesday night.
Over the past few years, Sabalenka’s consistency at the grand slam tournaments has been second to none. She has now reached the semi-finals in eight of her last nine major tournaments played, her only earlier loss coming in the quarter-finals of the French Open last year when she was suffering from an illness.
“I’m really glad that at some point I was able to put myself back together, and I was able to just get back to the match,” said Sabalenka. “I was able to keep fighting, keep trying, and I was able to turn around this match. It was a really difficult one.”.
She now continues her attempt to become the first player in 26 years to win three consecutive Australian Open titles (Martina Hingis completed her three-peat in 1999) and will face Paula Badosa, her close friend, in the semi-final after the 11th seed upset Coco Gauff, the third seed, 7-5, 6-4.
