Aryna Sabalenka took a big step towards retaining her Australian Open crown by beating American fourth seed Coco Gauff 7-6(2), 6-4 in a thriller on Thursday to reach the final where she will meet Zheng Qinwen.

China’s Zheng ended the fairytale run of qualifier Dayana Yastremska with a 6-4, 6-4 win.

In a rematch of their US Open final in September, the two reigning hardcourt grand slam champions made contrasting starts as Belarusian Sabalenka fired an ace and revved up her forehand to hold before pouncing on two double faults by Gauff to break.

But what followed was an intense contest between two players hoping to forge ahead and win their second grand slam title, and it was Sabalenka who held firm to become the first player since Serena Williams in 2016 and 2017 to make back-to-back Melbourne finals.

“I think I was able to focus on myself,” Sabalenka said. “I was thinking she’s going to move really well, put all balls back to me and I had to be ready to play an extra shot.

Gauff hit back right away and the pair swapped breaks again but the 19-year-old New York champion continued to teeter on her serve, allowing Sabalenka to settle her nerves after going 6-5 down in a frantic spell to clinch the first set
in a tiebreak.

The pair were locked together until 4-4 in the second set but the second seed edged ahead with a decisive break when the teenager hit a shot long before sealing victory with two massive serves.

Sabalenka will set her sights on becoming the first woman to win consecutive Australian Open titles since compatriot Victoria Azarenka in 2012 and 2013.

Gauff ‘hurt’

Gauff will take plenty of positives out of her last grand slam campaign as a teenager once the pain of her loss fades.

“At this stage in any tournament, but especially a grand slam, whether I lost 6-1, 6-1, or like I did today, or in a third-set tiebreak, I still think it would hurt just as much,” said
Gauff.

Although she was generally quite hard on herself, Gauff said she was proud of her achievements in the four and a half years since she reached the fourth round of Wimbledon at the age of 15.

‘Super excited’

In the semi-final between Zheng and Yastremska, the points were short and sharp for most of the battle and followed the same pattern in both sets, with the two swapping breaks early on and then 12th seed Zheng snaring the extra break in the seventh game both times.

“I’m super excited to have such a great performance today,” Zheng said.

But after beating a string of lower ranked players to reach the final, the 21-year-old will now face a formidable opponent in Belarusian second seed Sabalenka, who has not lost a set in the past
two weeks.

Zheng, who has rained down more aces by far than any other woman at Melbourne Park in her journey to the final, is bidding to match her hero, Li Na, who became the first Chinese grand glam winner by taking the Australian Open crown 10 years ago.