World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka is into the semifinals of the Brisbane International after defeating world No.5 Madison Keys, 6\u20133 6\u20133.<\/p>\n
The match marked Sabalenka\u2019s second meeting with Keys since her loss to the American in the Australian Open 2025 final, following a dominant 6\u20131 6\u20130 victory at Indian Wells. She extends her head-to-head record to 6\u20132 since they first met in 2018.<\/p>\n
The victory also means Sabalenka has notched eight consecutive wins in Brisbane and 36 of her last 38 matches in Australia.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThis place is super special. I always play great here. I\u2019m excited to be back in the semis, and I hope I can bring my best tennis each time I’m competing out here,\u201d said Sabalenka, who has sat atop the WTA world rankings for 64 consecutive weeks.<\/p>\n
While power was evenly matched between Keys and Sabalenka in the first set, precision made the difference. Keys surrendered seven points via double faults, caught between caution and commitment on second serves against the Belarusian\u2019s relentless aggression.<\/p>\n
In a second set defined by repeated service breaks, including five straight against Keys, the Belarusian composed herself at 4\u20132, before closing out the match with three thunderous serves of her own.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s a great player. Always tough battles against her,\u201d Sabalenka said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was trying to stay focused, trying to stay on my serve and put as much pressure as I can on her serve. That\u2019s all I was thinking about.<\/p>\n
\u201cI put so much pressure back on her. She\u2019s aggressive, and I tried to put all of that speed back on her.\u201d<\/p>\n
A two-time Brisbane International champion in 2023 and 2025, Sabalenka will look to take another step toward a third title in four appearances \u2014 having finished runner-up in 2024 \u2014 when she faces world No.20 Karol\u00edna Muchova on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Despite Sabalenka\u2019s overall dominance on the tour, Muchov\u00e1 holds a 3\u20131 head-to-head advantage, with the Czech claiming their most recent meeting in Beijing in 2024, 7\u20136(1) 2\u20136 6\u20135.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always approach each match the same, it doesn\u2019t matter the score between us,\u201d said Sabalenka.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s in the past stays in the past. I will try to bring everything I\u2019ve been working on throughout basically my whole career and try better every time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Muchova makes her mark\u00a0<\/p>\n
Czechia\u2019s Karolina\u00a0Muchova\u00a0has overcome\u00a0chronic\u00a0injury setbacks\u00a0to\u00a0emerge\u00a0victorious against\u00a0No.3\u00a0seed\u00a0Elena Rybakina in a thrilling upset at Pat Rafter Arena, jump starting her 2026 season by advancing to the Brisbane International semifinals.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Muchova required just over two hours to secure the 6-2 2-6 6-4 victory.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the first tournament\u00a0of the season,\u00a0so far\u00a0it\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0have\u00a0been\u00a0better than this,\u201d said 28-year-old Muchova, the No.11 seed in Brisbane. \u201cIt was a very tough match \u2026 [Rybakina]\u00a0is\u00a0a very good\u00a0athlete, top-3 or top-5 player so\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0just glad\u00a0I was able to serve it out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u00a0was my first time on the centre\u00a0court, [I\u2019m]\u00a0so happy with\u00a0all\u00a0the support,\u00a0and\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0so nice here,\u00a0thank you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Muchova\u2019s\u00a0varied\u00a0style of play saw her dictating the rhythm and pace of the first set, keeping the height,\u00a0width\u00a0and depth of her shots unpredictable, forcing\u00a0Rybakina to stay on her toes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The second set saw Rybakina turn the match around, starting to find length in her heavy strokes and\u00a0altering\u00a0her linear playing style to meet\u00a0Muchova\u2019s\u00a0more volatile style, leading\u00a0Muchova\u00a0to make 10 unforced errors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The\u00a0final set\u00a0proved to be quite the arm wrestle, with the\u00a0players meeting\u00a0each other game for game. But with her third break point converted, Muchova\u00a0slid\u00a0ahead to 5-4 and secured vico<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just happy again to be playing to be out here, I missed\u00a0two\u00a0years in Australia that I didn\u2019t even come because of injuries,\u201d said\u00a0Muchova, who will face Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals. \u201cI\u2019m\u00a0just glad to be playing.\u201d\u00a0
Don\u2019t miss out on the chance to be part of one of the most exciting tournaments of the year. Tickets for the Brisbane International are on sale via\u00a0Ticketmaster<\/a>. Prices start at $30. Premium Experiences are on sale via\u00a0Ticketmaster and the Premium Experiences Team.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka is into the semifinals of the Brisbane International after defeating world No.5 Madison Keys,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401484,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[4909,64,63,176511,72820,85,747],"class_list":["post-401483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-aryna-sabalenka","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-brisbane-international-tennis-tournament","tag-news-article","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}