Sabalenka fights past Pavlyuchenkova into Australian Open semis

Aryna Sabalenka has survived her first big scare at the 2025 Australian Open, defeating No.27 seed Anastasia Pavlychenkova 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 in the quarter-finals on Tuesday at Melbourne Park.

Coming into the match, the top seed had won 20 straight sets and looked largely untouchable as she sought a third-straight title in Melbourne.

However, the firepower of Pavlyuchenkova very nearly stopped the Belarusian in her tracks, with Sabalenka falling behind by a break in the deciding set.

The world No.1 managed to dig deep and run through the final six games of the contest to book her place in the semi-finals, but after the match, she reflected on how close she came to elimination.

“I was all over the place,” Sabalenka said.

“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.

“I was able to keep fighting, keep trying, and I was able to turn around this match.”

Sabalenka explained that the hot, windy conditions at Rod Laver Arena caught her off-guard.

“I was just trying to figure out how to play in these conditions,” she said.

“I was struggling a lot with finding my rhythm, finding the solution in these conditions.

“It’s not about being scared. It’s about finding the way out.

“I was struggling not in the beginning, actually.

“In the second set I was struggling with finding the way, but then I found one way.

“I’m happy that I was able to do that.”

Next up, Sabalenka faces her good friend Paula Badosa in the last four.

The Spaniard is playing in her first major semi-final, while the defending champion has made six in the past two seasons alone.

Tennis betting sites put Sabalenka at short odds of -454.55 to beat the No.11 seed and progress to a third-straight final in Melbourne, while she remains the title favourite at +100.

No.2 seed Iga Swiatek continues to close the gap in outright betting, however, paying +125 after the shock exit of Coco Gauff earlier on Tuesday.

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