Aryna Sabalenka became the first finalist of the Grand Slam Australian Open 2024. The runner-up in the ranking advanced after defeating American Coco Gauff 7:6 (2), 6:4. The Belarusian took revenge for her defeat in the title match at the US Open 2023.
Rafał Smoliński
January 25, 2024, 11:29 am
PAP/EPA / JOEL CARRETT / In the photo: Aryna Sabalenka Thursday is the day of the women’s singles semi-finals, and the highlight of the evening session at Rod Laver Arena was undoubtedly the meeting between Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff. Before this match, the American had a 4-2 balance against the Belarusian, but the tennis player from Minsk, defending her title in Melbourne, was the favorite. She also won in the end 7:6 (2), 6:4 and will play in Saturday’s final of the Australian Open 2024.
Sabalenka started with a bang. She probably kept her serve and already in the second game she pressed the return. After two double faults, Gauff found herself in trouble and lost her serve smoothly. However, before the change of ends, she made up for the break, showing off a nice winning backhand or forehand.
The 19-year-old US representative equalized the score at 2. Then Sabalenka took the lead, and in the sixth game she started attacking again. Gauff again committed two double faults and wasted the opportunity to tie the score at 3. The Belarusian then sensed her chance. A series of strong forehand shots broke her opponent’s resistance and led to a break for Sabalenka.
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When the 25-year-old from Minsk advanced to 5:2, it seemed that the fate of the set was sealed. In fact, in the eighth game she was only two balls away from victory. However, Gauff finished the next two rallies and held her serve. Now there’s another twist. Sabalenka, who was serving for the win in the premiere, made a double fault and gave her opponent a break point. When the defending champion was in danger, she broke her forehand and the American made up for the break loss.
Gauff was constantly under pressure as she had to hold her serve to stay in the game in the first set. The tenth game was nervous for the younger player. After the American’s backhand error, Sabalenka even had the set ball. The 2023 US Open champion saved herself by sending a clever serve to her opponent’s body. After a long fight, Gauff managed to get to 5th place.
Emotions reached their peak in the last games of the premiere. Both of them fought not only with their rival, but also with themselves. In the 11th game, Sabalenka lost her serve after a badly missed forehand at the net and lost 5:6. But Gauff did not take advantage of the great opportunity and did not close the set after the change of ends. She also lost her serve after a big forehand error.
Since there was a draw after 12 games, a tie-break was necessary. This game was completely dominated by Sabalenka. The favorite didn’t hold back her hand. She played aggressively on the return and made no mistakes in rallies. Gauff could only score two points in a situation when her opponent already had a significant advantage (she was leading 4-0 and 6-1, respectively). This time, the Belarusian did not waste a great opportunity and finished the game with a strong serve on the third set ball.
After the successful end of the premiere, Sabalenka did everything to quickly follow suit. Already in the first game of the second set, she pressed the return and had two break points. Gauff had to really try to defend the pass. Then the situation calmed down a bit and both ladies kept an eye on the service.
With the score at 3, Sabalenka resumed her return attacks. She found her rhythm again and the American was in trouble again. However, the US representative resisted the break point and defended her serve once again. Then she had her chances, but the Belarusian showed power when threatened. She played three great points, won the serve from 0-30 and led to a draw.
The decisive breakthrough took place in the ninth game. Gauff saved one break point, but was forced to make a mistake on the second one. After the change of sides, Sabalenka kept her nerves under control. The American canceled the first match ball with a winning forehand down the line, but after a while the Belarusian had a second opportunity. After an hour and 42 minutes, she used the second match ball and ended the match.
After a two-set fight, Sabalenka was happy with a valuable victory. In Thursday’s match, she recorded four aces, two double faults, completed 33 balls and had 28 errors. In total, she scored 82 of the 150 points played. Gauff had problems with her own passing. She sent down five aces, but also had eight double faults. She also finished 22 balls and recorded 20 unforced errors. The American used 3 out of 4 break points, and the Belarusian created 10 opportunities and converted four of them into breaks.
Sabalenka took the long-awaited revenge for the defeat suffered in the final of the US Open 2023. Thanks to the victory, she improved her balance of meetings with Gauff to 3-4. On Saturday, the Belarusian will play in the third Grand Slam final in her career and will have a chance to defend last year’s championship at the Australian Open. Her opponent will be China’s Qinwen Zheng (WTA 15) (more here).
Gauff finished her performance in Melbourne with the best result of her career. However, she failed to defeat Sabalenka in the semi-finals and will therefore not overtake her in the WTA rankings on Monday. Despite this, the American may have reasons to be satisfied. In terms of points, she gained an advantage compared to last year’s Australian Open and as a reward she will advance to third place.
Australian OpenMelbourne (Australia)
Grand Slam, hard court, prize pool of AUD 86.5 million
Thursday, January 25
women’s singles semi-final:
Aryna Sabalenka (2) – Coco Gauff (USA, 4) 7:6(2), 6:4
Program and results of the women’s tournament
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