Aryna Sabalenka overpowered Barbora Krejcikova 6-2, 6-3 in a brutally swift quarter final on Tuesday to keep her Australian Open title defence on course and set up a showdown with US Open champion Coco Gauff.
After the first two quarter-finals on Rod Laver Arena had run for a combined seven hours, Sabalenka, the highest women’s seed remaining in the singles competition, came out firing as if to ensure that the court schedule would be back on track before the final clash of the day.
She hammered her serves and groundstrokes over the net accompanied by her trademark yelps, breaking the ninth-seeded Czech thrice. The second seed rattled through her first service game of the second set and was soon feasting on Krejcikova’s second serve to break the former French Open champion again.
In the sixth game, Krejcikova again managed to break Sabalenka — only the second player to do so at Melbourne Park this year. But there was to be no comeback against the Belarusian who said after the match: “I played great tennis. I hope I can keep playing that way, or even better.”
Up next for her is Gauff, who denied her a second grand slam crown in the US Open final last September.
The American, who overcame 51 unforced errors, nine double-faults and had just 17 winners to beat first-time quarter-finalist Marta Kostyuk 7-6, 6-7, 6-2, hopes that she’s got her “bad” match out of the way before Thursday’s semi-final.
“Today was definitely a C-game,” the 19-year-old Gauff, who has won 12 consecutive matches in grand slams and is two victories from winning back-to-back major titles, said. “Didn’t play my best tennis, but really proud that I was able to get through.”
