By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Aryna Sabalenka’s quest for a back-to-back Australian Open golden trophy is still alive after marching to the grand finals stage on January 23, 2025.
The 26-year-old Belarusian ace dominated and made quick work of Paula Badosa- 6.4, 6.2- during their semifinal showdown at the Rod Laver Arena to seal her seat in the championship round.
Eager to move a step closer in her bid for a second straight Grand Slam title in Australia, Sabalenka pummeled Badosa from the get-go and established her footing in the match when she scored a crucial break point midway through the opening set.
After the breakpoint, Sabalenka rolled to a stellar display of tennis and surpassed her quarterfinal performance against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Coming off a grueling three-set duel against the latter, the reigning world no. 1 avoided her tendency of starting slow and whipped Badosa with her down-the-line power bombs.
Sabalenka maintained her consistent degree of forehand power in the baseline rally exchanges that resulted in Badosa’s wearing down.
According to their coaching staff, putting Badosa in an uncomfortable situation of not getting into the net area was one of their priorities and was executed to perfection by Sabalenka.
Known as a tremendous defensive player around the net, Badosa only had limited touches in the no-man’s land when Sabalenka settled for the long ground strokes that always landed beneath the baseline.
That strategy worked throughout the game, before Badosa adjusted with a serve-and-volley tactic but was already too late.
Sabalenka raked a total of four break points in just two sets and tallied 33 receiving points, 68 offensive points, and an impressive 77% win-rate on her first service attempts.
With the win, Sabalenka will look to defend her title against world no. 19 Madison Keys who is coming off a shocking upset over world no. 2 Iga Swiatek.
