Australian Open: Defending Champion Aryna Sabalenka locks final spot for third straight season

Aryna Sabalenka was not fooling around when she said she would be keeping "friendship" strictly outside the competing arena. Her words materialized when she faced her best friend off the court, Paula Badosa in the Australian Open semi-final. After some initial tenacious show from Badosa, playing her first final four match in Melbourne, Sabalenka cruised back into her rank as the defending champion to claim a straight sets victory at the Rod Laver Arena. The World No.1 ranked Belarusian is just one clash away from completing a historic three peat in Melbourne to become the first WTA player to do so since Martina Hingis in 1999. Moreover, her 6-4, 6-2 victory against Badosa brought Sabalenka in the league of Serena Williams as the player to feature in three consecutive Australian Open finals. Add this to her 2024 US Open victory and the 2025 Australian Open final will be her fifth consecutive hard-court Grand Slam final appearance.

Aryna Sabalenka brushes past Paula Badosa to enter the Australian Open Final

Paula Badosa made her first semi-final appearance in Australian Open after staging an upset against the third seed, Coco Gauff. However, her path to the ultimate game had defending champion Aryna Sabalenka. The Belarusian played fitting on the anticipations as she overpowered Badosa in the final four clash on Thursday. Interestingly, the Spaniard started the clash with a 2-0 lead over Sabalenka. However, clinching the serve by breaking Badosa, Sabalenka claimed four consecutive games and notched a 4-2 lead. Badosa's tale of dominance remained short lived as Sabalenka cruised fairly smoothly from thereafter.

"After Love-2, Love-40, after that I'd rate that I played really great tennis," Sabalenka said. "I mean, I played an incredible match, I think. I think when I broke her twice and I was 3-2 up, I felt like, Okay, I'm back. I felt my game much better. I was like, Okay, now it's time to step in," she added.

Aryna Sabalenka will meet either the second-seed, Iga Swiatek or American seed Madison Keys who overcame Elena Rybakina in the fourth-round to enter the final eight. Interestingly, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, stars of the WTA Tour across the past season, have never faced each other in a Grand Slam final so far on the tour. If the Polish ace manages to hold up her rank against the lower-seeded Madison Keys, the 2025 Australian Open would serve as the first platform to host the top-seeded players in a high-stakes tussle.