Aryna Sabalenka survived probably her toughest Australian Open match since the 2023 final versus Elena Rybakina as the Belarusian overcame world No. 31 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2 2-6 6-3.
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Early in the match, the defending champion was dominating and everything was pointing toward the world No. 1 clinching another dominant win at Melbourne Park.
But then, her level dropped and she lost a set in Melbourne for the first time since 2023.
In the third set, Sabalenka was twice down by a break and Pavlyuchenkova absolutely threatened to pull off a major surprise.
However, the three-time Grand Slam champion managed to stay calm and ultimately seal a semifinal ticket against her best friend Paula Badosa.
Throughout the match, both the Belarusian and the Russian were going for it.
In the end, the defending champfinished with 29 winners and 27 unforced errors while Pavlyuchenkova had the same number of winners and unforced errors - 23.
For the world No. 1, this was her 19th consecutive Australian Open win.
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How Sabalenka beat Pavlyuchenkova?
With breaks in the fourth and eighth games, the defending champion routinely sealed the first set.
But after dominating the opener, the 26-year-old stunningly lost her serve three times in the second set.
However, it should be noted that the Russian also raised her level and came up with some big shots in the second set.
Pavlyuchenkova then broke Sabalenka twice early in the third set but also twice blew her breaks.
And the world No. 31 paid the price for that as the world No. 1 claimed her third break of the third set in the eighth game for a 5-3 lead before serving out for the match in the following game.
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Now, the head-to-head between the two stands at 2-2.
Next up for the two-time Australian Open winnerwill be her eight career meeting against Badosa - she leads their head-to-head 5-2.
