Sabalenka reaches the Australian Open semis as she seeks 3rd title in a row

Aryna Sabalenka's bid for a third consecutive Australian Open championship will continue after she got past Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 in a surprisingly difficult quarterfinal Tuesday night in Melbourne.

The No. 1-ranked Sabalenka has now won 19 matches in a row at Melbourne Park and will face her good friend, No. 11 seed Paula Badosa, in the semifinals Thursday.

Sabalenka had run her set streak to 25 at the place — dating to the 2023 final — when she grabbed the opener against 2021 French Open runner-up Pavlyuchenkova. But Sabalenka had a hard time harnessing her intimidating strokes on a windy evening in Rod Laver Arena until doing so down the stretch and collecting the last three games after the third set was tied 3-3.

"Honestly," Sabalenka said, "I was just praying."

She won her first major championship at Melbourne Park in 2023, then added another last January, before raising her total to three Grand Slam trophies at the U.S. Open last September.

The last woman to win the Australian Open three straight years was Martina Hingis from 1997 to 1999.

Badosa's 7-5, 6-4 victory over No. 3 Coco Gauff in the day's first quarterfinal was surprising, sure, but nothing compared with how significant a win by No. 27 Pavlyuchenkova over Sabalenka would have been.

And that certainly seemed like it might occur for much of the second set and at least the start of the third. Instead, Pavlyuchenkova fell to 1-8 in Grand Slam quarterfinals, including 0-4 at the Australian Open.

So how did Pavlyuchenkova nearly pull off the win this time?

By handling Sabalenka's big serves, first and foremost, reading them well and delivering deep returns. It took a bit of time to find the range, but once she did, Pavlyuchenkova was nearly perfect: After Sabalenka held all four of her service games in the first set, she lost five of the next six.

Pavlyuchenkova also produced stinging groundstrokes that equalled her powerful opponent's for much of the contest. And by showing off some talent with her volleying, claiming eight of the first nine points she finished at the net — one even appeared to be a sort of mistake but landed in, eliciting a wry smile from Pavlyuchenkova.

As things stayed tight, Sabalenka grew frustrated, her shot-accompanying grunts and post-point screams growing louder. After getting broken to fall behind 1-0 in the third set, she hit her racket against the blue court.

Eventually, though, she was able to smile and look ahead to trying to return to the final with one more victory.

Gauff reflects after quarterfinal loss to Badosa

Coco Gauff's retooled forehand and serve abandoned her in the worst way and at the worst time at the Australian Open. The unforced errors just kept accumulating Tuesday, and so did the double-faults and break points, often followed by a palm placed over her eyes or a slap to a thigh.

Add it all up, and Gauff's trip to Melbourne Park — and her 13-match winning streak that dated to late last season — ended in the quarterfinals. Never able to take control on a hot afternoon in Rod Laver Arena, the 2023 U.S. Open champion was eliminated by No. 11 Paula Badosa of Spain 7-5, 6-4.

Using tweaks to some key strokes, and a change to her coaching team after a disappointing end to her title defense in New York in September, the 20-year-old Gauff arrived in Australia with hopes of earning a second Grand Slam title.

"I feel like [at the] U.S. Open, I was playing with no solution, so that was more the frustrating part. Today, I feel like I'm playing with solutions; I know what I need to work on. U.S. Open, I needed to work on my serve. Not saying that my serve is where I want it to be, but I worked on it; obviously, a big improvement. So I want to continue working on that, continue working on playing aggressive," Gauff said.

"So I feel like I'm on the road to the right way, right path," she said. "Even though I lost today, I feel like I'm in an upward trajectory."

The American entered Tuesday with a 9-0 record in 2025; she also won her last four matches of last season to collect the trophy at the WTA Finals in November.

"Just a lot more work to do," Gauff said after the one hour and 43-minute loss to Badosa, who had been 0-2 in Grand Slam quarterfinals. "I'm obviously disappointed, but I'm not completely crushed."

Badosa now heads to her first Grand Slam semifinal at age 27 — and less than a year after she was contemplating retirement because of a stress fracture in her back that took what felt like forever to heal and did not initially respond to cortisone injections.

"I wanted to [give] it a last try," Badosa said, "Well, here I am. So I'm really proud of what we went through with all my team and especially how I [fought] through all that, especially mentally."

In Thursday's semifinals, she will go up against her close friend, No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion in Melbourne. Sabalenka stretched her winning streak in the tournament to 19 matches by getting past No. 27 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.

Djokovic bounces Alcaraz, to face Zverev

Novak Djokovic refused to let anything stop his pursuit of a record 25th Grand Slam trophy in the Australian Open quarterfinals. Not a problem with his left leg. Not an early deficit. And not the kid across the net, Carlos Alcaraz, who was making things difficult and eyeing his own bit of history.

Djokovic overcame it all, just as he has so often along the way to so many triumphs, moving into the semifinals at Melbourne Park for the 12th time with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Alcaraz in a scintillating showdown between a pair of stars born 16 years apart and at opposite ends of their careers.

"I just wish that this match today was the final," Djokovic said. "One of the most epic matches I've played on this court. On any court."

The action was non-stop, the shot-making brilliant, even as the match stretched on for more than 3 1/2 hours and nearly to 1 a.m. — never more so, perhaps, than when Alcaraz saved a break point that would have put Djokovic ahead 5-2 in the fourth set, allowing him to serve for the win. The 33-stroke exchange was the longest of the evening, and when it ended with Djokovic sailing a forehand long, the capacity crowd at Rod Laver Arena went wild. Djokovic reached for his bothersome leg and yelled toward his entourage; Alcaraz, his chest heaving, leaned on a towel box and grinned.

Turned out that only delayed the final result.

With his wife, son and daughter cheering in the stands, the No. 7-seeded Djokovic prevailed thanks to the sort of remarkable returning and no-mistakes-made groundstrokes against Alcaraz that now-retired rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal dealt with for years.

"I felt like I was controlling the match, and I let him get into the match again," Alcaraz said. "When Novak is at this level, it's really difficult."

Djokovic enjoyed some of his own best efforts in the latter stages, pointing to his ear or blowing kisses or spreading his arms while puffing out his chest. There was the forehand winner on a 22-stroke point that earned the break for a 5-3 lead in the third set. There was that set's last point, which included a back-to-the-net sprint to chase down a lob. Alcaraz wasn't shy, either, shouting "Vamos!" and pumping his fists after one particularly booming forehand in the fourth set.

On Friday, Djokovic's 50th major semifinal will come against No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev, a two-time runner-up at majors who beat No. 12 Tommy Paul 7-6 (1), 7-6 (0), 2-6, 6-1. The other men's quarterfinals are Wednesday: No. 1 Jannik Sinner vs. No. 8 Alex de Minaur, and No. 21 Ben Shelton against unseeded Lorenzo Sonego.