Aryna Sabalenka closed her eyes in relief and gave the audience kisses: With a strong performance, the Belarusian once again reached the final of the Australian Open and eliminated her supposedly strongest opponent, Coco Gauff.
Sabalenka defeated the American on Thursday in a high-class game 7:6 (7:2), 6:4 and took revenge for the lost US Open final in September.
On Saturday, the world number two will fight against the Ukrainian qualifier Dajana Jastremska or the Chinese Zheng Qinwen to successfully defend her title in Melbourne. “I just focused on myself. Thanks for the great support, this feels like home,” said Sabalenka.
Sabalenka goes into the final as the heavy favorite. The 25-year-old has yet to drop a set during the tournament and has been unbeaten in 13 games in Melbourne. A year ago she won her only Grand Slam title to date on the Yarra River.
She got into the game well against Gauff, who seemed nervous at the start, but after the American’s performance improved, Sabalenka kept her nerve in the tiebreak. In the second set, Sabalenka managed the decisive break to 5:4, after 1:42 hours of play she used her second match point to win and moved into a major final for the third time. For Gauff it was the first defeat of 2024 in the tenth game.