Aryna Sabalenka played yet another great match to win in straight sets at the 2024 Australian Open, booking the semi-final.
No player has been as impressive as the Belarusian at the 2024 Australian Open. Besides winning a match 6-0 6-0, she also bested everybody en route to the semi-final, including this quarter-final match against Barbora Krejcikova.
She's yet to lose a set this fortnight and is naturally yet to come close to losing a match. With her track record of winning the trophy last year, it's looking like a second Grand Slam-winning campaign for her.
Two more matches are needed, but if she brings the level she had against Krejcikova today, she'll be fine. The opening set was an interesting one as Sabalenka quickly established dominance with her amazing ball-hitting.
She bombarded from the baseline, and pretty quickly, it was evident that Krejcikova couldn't deal. The Belarusian took a 4-1 lead and finished it off 6-2 after that.
Sabalenka managed to hit just enough winners but also minimized the unforced errors, which doesn't happen too often. Generally, she has about an equal amount of winners and unforced errors.
Krejcikova was all over the place and couldn't really keep the ball in play too much, which happened in the second set as well. That's the problem with facing Sabalenka.
You have to try something, and quite often, it's an attempt to outhit her, which obviously doesn't and won't work. Sabalenka took an early break in the second set as well and, from there, largely cruised to the finish line.
The final score was 6-2 6-3 for the Belarusian, who moved on to the semi-final with a good performance centered around her overwhelming pressure from the baseline. She's now two matches away from successfully defending her trophy from last year, and her next opponent will be Coco Gauff, who she lost to in the 2023 US Open final.
Barbora Krejcikova v Aryna Sabalenka Match Stats:
| Barbora Krejcikova | 2-6 3-6 | Aryna Sabalenka |
| 2 | Aces | 4 |
| 3 | Double Faults | 2 |
| 59% | First Serve % | 63% |
| 55% (16/29) | Points Won After First Serve % | 72% (18/25) |
| 20% (4/20) | Points Won After Second Serve % | 53% (8/15) |
| 50% (2/4) | Break Point Conversion | 67% (6/9) |
| 6 | Winners | 19 |
| 24 | Unforced Errors | 13 |
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