Sabalenka beats Badosa to reach her third Australian Open final

Aryna Sabalenka has a date with history this Saturday in Melbourne.

World number 1 and current two-time Australian Open title-holder, the Belarusian lost her first set of the fortnight in her quarter-final against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Sabalenka rectified the situation in her next match to dominate her friend Paula Badosa in two sets in the semi-finals (6-4, 6-2).

However, the Spaniard, who was playing the first Grand Slam match of her career at this stage of the competition, arrived without pressure and broke first from the outset.

Sabalenka, who was 5-2 down in the second set against Jessica Bouzas Maneiro and who had also come from a break down twice in the last set in the previous round against Pavlyuchenkova, was in no mood for doubts.

Finally, after settling down in the opening game, Sabalenka then unrolled and Badosa, who only had one break point in the entire match, was unable to stop her.

In two sets and after 1h27 of play, the Belarusian, with 32 winners, reached her third consecutive Melbourne final.

She is now just one match away from completing a hat-trick of titles in Melbourne, a feat not achieved since Martina Hingis in 1997, 1998 and 1999.

After dominating Rybakina in the final in 2023 and Zheng last year, she will now face either Iga Swiatek or Madison Keys in the other semi-final.