5th seed Aryna Sabalenka squares off against Magda Linette in the semifinals of the 2023 Australian Open on Thursday.
The Belarusian star has reached the semifinals of the Australian Open for the first time in her career. This is also her second consecutive Grand Slam appearance and she is yet to lose a set in 2023.
The dominant Sabalenka started off with a 6-1, 6-4 win against Tereza Martincova in the first round. The 24-year-old got the better of Shelby Rogers comprehensively in the second round. In the third round, the experienced Elise Mertens also fell prey as she lost 2-6, 3-6. In the fourth round, Sabalenka eased past 12th seed Belinda Bencic in straight sets 7-5, 6-2. The quarterfinals saw Sabalenka put on another delightful performance as she blew away Donna Vekic 6-3, 6-2 to sail into the semis.
The 30-year-old has made it to the semifinals of a major for the first time in her career. She became the third Polish woman to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam competition.
Linette began with a relatively comfortable win against Mayar Sherif in the first round. She followed it up with a sensational come-from-behind win against 16th seed Anett Kontaveit in the second round. In the third round, Linette made light work of 19th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova as she won the match 6-3, 6-4. 4th seed Caroline Garcia was one of the pre-tournament favorites but her run was ended in the fourth round by Linette. The semifinals saw Linette defeat former world No. 1 Karoline Pliskova in straight sets 6-3, 7-5.
Sabalenka leads Linette 2-0 in the head-to-head. She won their previous encounter at the 2021 Olympics in straight sets.
Prediction: Aryna Sabalenka to win in three sets.
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