Aryna Sabalenka’s Australian Open quarterfinal win proves cracks appearing in women’s game

Aryna Sabalenka is either one of the greatest tennis players in history or there’s something seriously wrong with the women’s game since Ash Barty retired, writes Julian Linden.

Aryna Sabalenka is either one of the greatest tennis players in history or there’s something seriously wrong with the women’s game since Ash Barty retired in 2022.

The current world No. 1, Sabalenka is on the verge of becoming the first woman this century to win three successive Australian Open titles, already guaranteed at least $1.1 million after spending less than eight hours on court.

Not only that, Sabalenka has been demolishing her opponents at the Australian Open so ruthlessly and quickly that at one stage, spectators might have wondered whether it was time to consider invoking the mercy rule.

Her latest victim, Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, almost pulled off the impossible on Tuesday night but to no avail.

She at least did something few players have managed in the last three years when she took a set off Sabalenka, but the final result was still the same as she lost their quarterfinal 6-2 2-6 6-3.

Aryna Sabalenka has kept her streak alive at Melbourne Park. Picture: Hannah Peters/Getty Images.

“I was all over the place,” Sabalenka said. “I’m really glad that at some point I was able to put myself back together, and I was able to just get back to the match.

“I was able to keep fighting, keep trying, and I was able to turn around this match.

If anything, Pavlyuchenkova deserves a pat on the back for at least giving Sabalenka a decent workout at Melbourne Park because no-one else has done that for a while.

Chasing her third Australian Open title in a row, Sabalenka has won her last 19 matches in a row at Melbourne. Of those 17 have been in two straight sets.

On current form, the Belarusian is the odds-on favourite to complete a hat-trick of Australian Open titles, a rare fear that only seven women have achieved; Martina Hingis, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Evonne Goolagong, Margaret Court, Nancye Wynne Bolton and Daphne Akhurst.

All legends of the game, Hingis was the last woman to win three on the trot, from 1997-1999. And like Sabalenka, she dropped just two sets in her three year reign.

“I’m really happy that I put myself in this situation where I have the opportunity to become one of them,” Sabalenka said.

“To be next to those names, wow, that’s just a dream. Of course, it has always been in the back of my mind that I can do that. But you know, my main focus is step by step.”

Sabalenka’s next opponent on Rod Laver Arena is Spain’s Paula Badosa, who will be playing in her first grand slam semi-final.

The top seed will be heavily favoured to win despite experiencing a few problems against Pavlyuchenkova, the 2021 French Open finalist who won a gold medal in mixed doubles at last year’s Paris Olympics.

Pavlyuchenkova said later she was proud of the way she fought back but admitted she was embarrassed by her performance in the opening set.

“Obviously I’m still disappointed, even though I didn’t know what to expect,” she said.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova took a set off Aryna Sabalenka. Picture: Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP.

“The start was so-so. I just felt like, wow, I’m completely off. I don’t feel the ball at all. She’s hitting so hard, and I cannot hit the ball at all.

“Mentally I thought, oh, my God, it’s just embarrassing. I cannot really play tennis. Then I’m happy with the way I fought back.”

At 26, Sabalenka already has three majors under her belt, two Aussie Opens and a US Open. If she keeps going at this rate, she’ll be herself one day.

After racing through the opening set in half an hour on a packed centre court, Sabalenka got the wobbles in the second set but found her rhythm and voice in the decider.

With the decibels increasing as her grunting got louder and louder, Sabalenka regained her composure to run away with the match to ensure another massive payday without hardly breaking sweat.

“It’s not about being scared. It’s about finding the way out,” Sabalenka said.

“In the second set I was struggling with finding the way, but then I found one way. I’m happy that I was able to do that.”

Originally published as Aryna Sabalenka’s Australian Open quarterfinal win proves cracks appearing in women’s game