World’s number one and defending champion at the Australian Open for the last two seasons, Aryna Sabalenka played almost in one breath against Paula Badosa, defeating her by 2-0 (6:4, 6:2) to become the first finalist in this year’s edition Australian Open, which is the first Grand Slam tournament of the year.
Aryna Sabalenka had some hesitation only at the beginning, and she was her best friend after 86 minutes at “Rod Laver Arena”.
Aryna Sabalenka started with several unforced errors, which logically led to an early break for Paula Badosa for 2:0. Aryna Sabalenka managed to rebreak in her turn, and after that she won the service game, with which the score was tied – 2:2. The champion played even more aggressively, found a rhythm, used a strong forehand and in the fifth game reached a new breakthrough, which turned out to be decisive for her success in this first set.
In the second set, Aryna Sabalenka continued to dominate the court, and Paula Badosa started to roll on the defensive. The 11th in the scheme, the Spaniard made a double fault, allowing Aryna Sabalenka to reach a break in the third game, and the fifth Belorussian made one more, to pull away a little later with 5:1. Aryna Sabalenka closed the match with a strong forehand down the line and said goodbye to her 11th consecutive victory since the beginning of the season, 20th consecutive at the Australian Open and 13th consecutive in the Grand Slam tournaments.
After the end of the match, Aryna Sabalenka went to her friend and the two talked for a long time, laughing.
Aryna Sabalenka will fight for the title with the winner of the duel later today between the second ranked Iga Swiatek (Poland) and the American Madison Keys. The Belarusian is aiming for her third consecutive success at the Australian Open and the fourth Grand Slam trophy in her career.
