Robert Prange/Getty Pictures
Two Grand Slam champions, a four-time main semifinalist and an unseeded participant on her greatest type make up the 2023 Australian Open girls’s semifinal discipline.
Elena Rybakina and Victoria Azarenka, the 2 previous main winners, face one another on Thursday in Melbourne.
No. 5 seed Aryna Sabalenka, who’s in her fourth semifinal in seven majors, takes on the unseeded Magda Linette within the different last-four contest.
All 4 gamers had been wonderful of their respective quarterfinal matches, as they superior in straight units.
The type of the remaining quartet suggests we will probably be handled to a pair of excellent matches inside Rod Laver Area.
Ladies’s Semifinal Schedule
Date: Thursday, January 26
Begin Time: 3:30 a.m. ET
TV: ESPN2
Dwell Stream: ESPN.com and ESPN app
Previews
No. 22 Elena Rybakina vs. No. 24 Victoria Azarenka
Elena Rybakina and Victoria Azarenka turned main champions in numerous eras of girls’s tennis.
Rybakina burst on to the scene final 12 months, when she defeated Ons Jabeur to win Wimbledon. The run in London marked the primary time the 23-year-old had superior past the ultimate eight of a serious.
The No. 22 seed found a brand new stage of type at Wimbledon and that has been on show on the Australian Open.
Rybakina owns the largest win of the match. She eradicated prime seed Iga Świątek in straight units within the fourth spherical. She has dropped a single set in her 5 matches, which got here in opposition to 2022 runner-up Danielle Collins within the third spherical.
The Kazakh has solely met Azarenka as soon as beforehand, when she defeated the Belarusian in straight units in Indian Wells, California in 2022.
Azarenka rediscovered her glory days of the early 2010s when she gained each of her main titles and appeared in 5 main semifinals in a three-year span from 2011-13.
The No. 24 seed carries a wealth of late-round expertise in Australia from her victories in 2012 and 2013.
Azarenka benefited partly from that have, and from the battles she confronted within the early rounds, to take down third-seeded American Jessica Pegula in straight units to succeed in the ultimate 4.
The 33-year-old gained a pair of three-set battles through which she misplaced the primary set in opposition to Madison Keys and Zhu Lin. She additionally battled by means of robust matches in opposition to 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin within the first spherical and 2020 French Open semifinalist Nadia Podoroska within the second spherical.
Azarenka has had the harder total journey to the ultimate 4, however Rybakina may make the argument she is in higher type after defeating each finalists from 12 months in the past.
No. 5 Aryna Sabalenka vs. Magda Linette
Aryna Sabalenka would be the overwhelming favourite in opposition to Magda Linette.
The Belarusian is in her fourth Grand Slam semifinal in three years and owns a 2-0 head-to-head benefit over her opponent.
The No. 5 seed has not misplaced a set in Melbourne. She seemed dominant in her quarterfinal win over Donna Vekić, who got here into Tuesday with simply two dropped units in 4 rounds on her match resume.
The knock on Sabalenka is that she has been in a position to attain the semifinal stage however not get previous it. She has fallen to Świątek, Karolina Pliskova and Leylah Fernandez in her last-four encounters at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open during the last two seasons.
All three of Sabalenka’s earlier semifinal matches went the gap. That may not be a great state of affairs this time round in opposition to the unseeded Linette.
The 30-year-old Pole had by no means been previous the third spherical at a serious in her decade-long profession earlier than this 12 months. She performed spectacular tennis to beat 4 seeded gamers in a row, together with three ranked within the prime 20.
Linette will enter Rod Laver Area with a ton of confidence that she will earn a second upset over a top-five participant. She beat No. 4 seed Caroline Garcia within the fourth spherical.
If Sabalenka retains up the excessive stage of play that has stored her from shedding a set in Australia, she ought to cruise previous Linette and at last attain a Grand Slam remaining.
