Aryna Sabalenka on to Aussie final after blowing past Coco Gauff،
MELBOURNE, Australia — Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka avenged her U.S. Open final loss to Coco Gauff and became the first woman since Serena Williams to reach back-to-back finals at the Australian Open on Thursday.
Sabalenka attacked Gauff's serve in a 7-6 (2), 6-4 semifinal victory.
She will meet either Zheng Qinwen or Dayana Yastremska in Saturday's championship final. Zheng and Yastremska, ranked 93rd, were playing in their first ever Grand Slam semi-final.
Sabalenka is on a 13-match slate at Melbourne Park, where she made her Grand Slam breakthrough last year. Williams reached consecutive finals here in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
Gauff entered the 2024 semifinals undefeated after winning a title in Auckland, New Zealand.
The 19-year-old American was on a 12-match winning streak at major tournaments and was attempting to be the first player since Naomi Osaka in 2020-21 to win the US Open and Australian Open titles consecutively.
She had figured out how to beat Sabalenka in New York last September to win her first major title, but had no answer this time against the only player in the final four with semi-final experience in Australia.
The first set contained six breaks of serve, with both players missing opportunities to serve.
Sabalenka led 5-2 and missed a set point as Gauff held on and reeled off four games to take a 6-5 lead. Gauff couldn't hold on either, as Sabalenka's resounding returns continued to cause him trouble.
In the tiebreaker, Sabalenka made it 5-1. Chants of “Coco, Coco” spread around Rod Laver Arena, but they didn’t help Gauff.
Nearly half an hour after her first set point, Sabalenka earned five more. She landed the second with a big wide serve.
Gauff only managed to win points on three of her 17 seconds of serve in the first set, which forced her to push harder and led to double faults.
The second set was close, until Sabalenka got a break of serve in the ninth game.
She missed her first match point when Gauff saved with a forehand winner to end a 12-shot rally.
An ace in the middle earned a second match point and Sabalenka won it after 1 hour and 42 minutes.
In doubles, Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden, 43, advanced to their second consecutive men's Grand Slam final by beating Zhang Zhizhen and Tomas Machac 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7).
Tournament officials said Bopanna and Ebden, together aged 79, will become the oldest No. 1 duo in tennis history after the tournament.
Bopanna and Ebden, ranked second in men's doubles, lost to Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury in the US Open final last September.
In Saturday's final, they will face Italian pair Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori.
