- No 5 seed overpowers opponent in 7-6 (1), 6-2 victory
- Belarusian will face Elena Rybakina in Saturday’s final
The first-set tie-break said it all – Magda Linette lost it 7-1 and she hadn’t even done anything wrong. Until then it was toe to toe and anyone’s guess who would leave Rod Laver Arena with an appointment to see Elena Rybakina on Saturday. Aryna Sabalenka generally does not shift through the gears, mainly because she starts at full throttle and keeps her foot down for the entirety of matches. And yet there was another, supersonic something or other she had kept in her back pocket for Thursday’s semi-final.
The motivation to bring it out at this moment might have been that she has made three slam semi-finals before and thrice been beaten. It may have been that she had won all 18 sets she had played thus far in 2023 and was not about to drop one now. Or it could simply be a manifestation of the new calm she says feels on the court –evident midway through said tie-break when she started her service motion before stopping to reset, and then sent down an ace.