Sabalenka out for vengeance in Gauff showdown

Coco Gauff beat Arina Sabalenka in the US Open final last year.

Four months after losing in the US Open final, Aryna Sabalenka will have a chance to avenge that pain when she meets Coco Gauff in the Australian Open semi-finals on Thursday.

Sabalenka is the reigning champion, who won a Grand Slam title at Melbourne Park last year, but has yet to reach the semifinals this season. She is only the third woman to reach six consecutive Grand Slam semifinals since the turn of the century, joining Jennifer Capriati and Serena Williams of the United States.

The Belarusian defender was once known for his inability to control his emotions on court, but Sabalenka, who has beaten all debutants in Melbourne this year, seems more comfortable with himself. His social media pages are full of light moments with his team of trainers and one of his rituals is to write the name of his fitness trainer on his bald head before every match.

But despite his lightness, he remains a strong competitor with the raw power to chase opponents downfield. “I want revenge after the US Open,” Sabalenka said of her match against Gauff.

Gauff, a teenager who won her first Grand Slam title at the US Open, leads with four wins in six matches and knows she needs to improve if she is to reach the final. She calmly advanced to the quarter-finals without dropping a set, but her level dropped significantly in the last eight meetings with Marta Kostuk.

The 19-year-old struggled to serve against Ukraine. They battled back from a 5-1 deficit in the first set, lost a tiebreak in the second and finally took the lead in the third. “It’s definitely a ‘C’ game,” Gauff said. “I didn’t play my best tennis.”

Much will depend on whether Gauff can bring her service game back to pre-quarterfinal levels. The second semi-final could have been predicted before the tournament, but it would have been a brave pundit who predicted the first match between Dayana Jastremska and Zheng Qingwen.

The pair were drawn in the first half of the draw, with all but one of the 16 seeds, including world number one Iga Sviatek, eliminated before the quarter-finals. No overview of ratings

Ukraine’s Yastremska, who will be making her ninth appearance at the tournament after reaching the women’s semi-finals in Melbourne for the first time since 1978, said ranking was not a factor.

“Girls at any rank can play great,” she said. “I did my job and focused on myself and my game. I think it worked.”

Zheng, ranked 12th, will be looking to follow in the footsteps of compatriot and hero Li Na, who became the first Chinese player to win the Australian Open a decade ago. Lee, a four-time semi-finalist in Melbourne, offered advice to the 21-year-old when they met after Chung’s third-round win.

“He told me, ‘Don’t think too much, just think,'” Zheng said.