Sabalenka survives scare to keep title defence alive

Aryna Sabalenka said she was “all over the place” as she survived a scare against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to reach the Australian Open semi-finals and continue her bid for a third straight Melbourne title.

The world number one is attempting to become the first woman since Martina Hingis 26 years ago to complete a ‘three-peat’ at the hard-court Grand Slam.

After racing through the first set, Sabalanka’s title hopes were left hanging by a thread as Pavlyuchenkova swept up the second and broke early in the decider.

But the Belarusian kept her cool to fight back and wrap up a 6-2 2-6 6-3 win.

“I think it is good to have these tough battles and be tougher in the later stages of the tournament,” Sabalenka said.

“I was all over the place. I’m really glad that at some point I was able to put myself back together.”

It is the first time Sabalenka has dropped a set at the Australian Open since the 2023 final, where she fought back to beat Elena Rybakina and win her first major singles title.

The top seed said she “can’t wait” to face her friend Paula Badosa in the last four after the Spaniard stunned third seed Coco Gauff earlier on Tuesday.

A 10th career Grand Slam semi-final for Sabalenka was starting to look unlikely at the start of the third set.

Sabalenka’s serve wavered and Pavlyuchenkova broke five times in a row to take the second set and go up a break in the third.

But despite having momentum on her side, the Russian 27th seed could not make the most of her early lead, and Sabalenka levelled immediately.

The three-time major winner settled herself with a hold to go 3-2 up, claimed a crucial break for a 5-3 lead before serving out a 19th successive victory at Melbourne Park.

Sabalenka, who has reached the semi-finals in eight of her past nine Grand Slam appearances, joked afterwards that she would make her team get tiger tattoos if she won the Melbourne title.

The 26-year-old said the tattoo of a tiger on her forearm is a “reminder of never giving up, staying aggressive, staying hungry and pushing myself no matter what is going on in life.”

She added: “If I win the Australian Open, which hopefully I do fingers crossed, we are going to celebrate.

“Then I’m going to call a tattoo specialist so they wake up with a tiger tattoo.”

Former French Open finalist Pavlyuchenkova, however, suffered an eighth Grand Slam quarter-final defeat in nine attempts.

The 33-year-old said she felt “completely off” during a first set in which she failed to bring up a single break point.

“I thought, it’s just embarrassing. I cannot really play tennis,” Pavlyuchenkova added.