By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday January 25, 2023
Aryna Sabalenka topped Coco Gauff to keep her title hopes alive at the Australian Open.
Photo Source: Gett
Aryna Sabalenka said it plain and simple on Tuesday when asked about the challenge of facing Coco Gauff, the woman who defeated her in last year’s US Open final, in the semifinals of the Australian Open.
“I love it,” she said. “I really want that revenge.”
Sabalenka took it on Thursday, and in the process moved one step from becoming the first woman to complete a successful title defense at the Australian Open in 11 years with a 7-6(2), 6-4 triumph that lasted one hour and 42 minutes.
Gauff fought bravely, pushing Sabalenka to the brink in both sets, but couldn’t keep her 12-match Grand Slam winning streak from coming to an end as she fell to 10-1 on the young season.
25-year-old Sabalenka weathered a frantic opening set that saw her squander two breaks before taking the stanza in lopsided tiebreak. She then bided her time in the second set as she held serve the whole way and broke in Gauff’s final service game before serving out her 13th consecutive Australian Open victory, which also marked her first Top-4 victory at a Grand Slam.
Impressively, Sabalenka finished the day with a 75 percent first-serve percentage, and she cracked 33 winners to 22 for Gauff.
The pair’s seventh career meeting was played at a fever-pitch with both players mixing sublime tennis with some nerve-addled errors. It made for a back-and-forth opening set that saw Sabalenka pull ahead quickly and storm out to a 5-2 lead, before giving back all the ground to a determined Gauff.
“It was definitely a tough match,” Sabalenka said after the match, as she referred to Gauff’s trademark grit. “But I was ready for her to try her best to come back. She did it already in the previous match, so I was ready for that – I just really enjoy playing her, it’s always a great fight, it’s always a great battle.”
19-year-old Gauff, playing her last Grand Slam as a teenager, even had a 30-0 lead while serving for the set, but two forehand errors put Sabalenka back in the game, which she then claimed.
The tiebreak was all Sabalenka, and as the two rivals moved into the second set, a pitcher’s duel ensued as both locked in and held serve until four-all. Sabalenka knocked on the door several times, earning two break points in Gauff’s first service game, another as Gauff served at 3-3, and two more with Gauff serving at 4-4. She finally broke through on a Gauff backhand error to lead 5-4 and held her nerve in the final game to secure a place in her third major final.
“I’m just trying to remind myself that it’s a new day, it’s a new opportunity and you can anything – just fight for it,” Sabalenka said. Sabalenka will face either China’s Zheng Qinwen or Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska for the title on Saturday evening in Melbourne.
“Doesn’t matter who I’m gonna face, I know I’m going to go out there and do everything to get that win,” she said.