Australian Open 2025: Double Defending Champion Aryna Sabalenka Enters Third Successive Final in Melbourne

Double champion and top seed Aryna Sabalenka continued her winning streak and kept her three-peat alive in Melbourne after easing past Palua Badosa in straight sets in the Australian Open 2024 women's singles semi-final on Thursday (January 23).

The world number one, who won the Australian Open title in 2023 and 2024, booked her third successive final with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Spain's Badosa in the last four contest that lasted an hour and 26 minutes at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.

With the result, Sabalenka extended her winning streak to 20 in Melbourne, and is now one more win away from becoming the first woman since Martina Hingis (1997-1999) to win three consecutive titles at the year's first grand slam.

The 26-year-old has now also reached five successive hard-court Grand Slam finals. Only four other women have achieved that feat - Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles and Hingis.

The top seed Sabalenka will face winner of the second semi-final between second-seeded Iga Swiatek of Poland 19th-seeded American Madison Keys in the final on Saturday (January 25).

Sabalenka, who had a slight hiccup in the quarter-final, made a stuttery start to the semi-final clash, trailing 0-2 to Badosa in the first set. However, the Belarusian soon found her mark and put her dependable forehand to work, breaking Badosa twice before holding firm to take the set.

Eleventh seed Badosa, who had eliminated Coco Gauff in the fourth round in one of the shocks of the tournament, was constantly under siege on serve in her first Grand Slam semi-final and the pressure told as she double-faulted to gift Sabalenka an early break in the second set.

The world number one rode the momentum to a 5-1 lead before sealing the match in style with a cracking forehand down the line and took the set and the match 6-2. This was Sabalenka's sixth straight win over Badosa, who has won only the first two of their previous 8 meetings.

"Super tough match against a friend," Sabalenka said after the match, but she was happy to be through. Sabalenka, who last year described Badosa as her "best friend" and "soulmate", joking said "hope she is still my friend, and we can go shopping."