Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka continued her barnstorming run through the Australian Open 2024 draw on Tuesday as she brushed aside the challenge of Barbora Krejcikova with a 6-2 6-3 victory to book a place in the semifinals.
Sabalenka hit 20 winners and just 13 unforced errors in a clinical performance as she stormed through to the last four for the loss of just 16 games.
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Ninth seed Krejcikova, a former Roland-Garros champion, tried everything she could to break up the rhythm of the No. 2 seed, but Sabalenka was unrelenting throughout, her power too much for the Czech.
“I think it was a really great match today,” said Sabalenka, who will now meet Coco Gauff in what will be a repeat of last year’s US Open final, which was won by the American.
“I think I played really great tennis. I just hope I can keep playing this way or even better. Thank you guys, the atmosphere reminded me of the atmosphere in the final last year.”
Until last year’s event, Sabalenka had always had the talent but her game had been brittle, a tendency to collapse under pressure costing her in the biggest situations and her second serve sometimes crumbling.
But her victory over Elena Rybakina in the final 12 months ago changed everything and Krejcikova became the latest woman to feel her power at this year's event.
“I’ve been working so hard last year, this pre-season,” Sabalenka said. “I think it’s all about hard work, give it all on the practice court so you’re ready for the matches as good as you can.”
The Czech won just 20 percent of points on her second serve – at one stage it was as low as 14 percent – and she was constantly under pressure, pushed back by the power of the Sabalenka returns and the accuracy of her groundstrokes.
The encounter began shortly after 9pm after lengthy day session matches but Sabalenka soon looked in the mood to make up for lost time.
The first break came in the third game when a brilliant backhand return was followed by a big forehand. Sabalenka also showed deft touch, with one stunning drop shot in the fifth game, as she took a 4-1 lead.
A loose game from Sabalenka, combined with some better play from Krejcikova, handed one of the breaks back but the reigning champion bounced back immediately as Krejcikova, trying to mix up the pace, went long with a backhand.
Such was the venom of Sabalenka’s groundstrokes that Krejcikova was constantly at full stretch behind the baseline, just trying to hack the ball back into play, squash-shot style. Sabalenka held to love and the first set was done and dusted in 33 minutes.
Krejcikova held to start the second set but after a brief delay for some low-flying pigeons, Sabalenka broke for a 2-1 lead. The second set followed the pattern of the first as she extended the lead to 4-1 only to hand one of the breaks back in the next game.
Krejcikova beat Sabalenka in Dubai last year, having lost the first set 6-0 and when she held serve to reduce the deficit to 4-3 and went up 15-30 on the Sabalenka serve, a comeback looked possible.
But Sabalenka came up with some big serves when she needed and then ripped through the next Krejcikova service game to wrap up another convincing victory.