Aryna Sabalenka has been through to her third consecutive Australian Open final after beating best friend Paula Badosa 6-4 6-2.
Playing in her maiden Grand Slam semifinal, the 11th-seeded Spaniard came out firing and she claimed an early break for a 2-0 lead and even had 40/0 on her serve.
But then, the Spanish tennis star allowed herself to lose the game from 40/0 up and the Belarusian instantly got back into the set.
Still impacted by what happened in the third game, Badosa lost her serve once again in the fifth game as Sabalenka went up by a break before serving out for the first set in the 10th game.
After losing the first set in a heartbreaking way, the Spaniard also suffered back-to-back breaks in the third and fifth games of the second set.
In both of those games, the No. 11 seed had 30/0 on her serve but failed to close out the games.
Up by a set and a double break, Sabalenka held on to her serve for the remainder of the match to complete a two-set win.
During the match, the Belarusian fired 32 winners and converted four of her nine break point chances.
Sabalenka a win away from completing an Australian Open three-peat
Now, the top seed awaits the winner of the remaining semifinal between Iga Swiatek and…
