Defending Brisbane champion Aryna Sabalenka handed Madison Keys a 6-3, 6-3 defeat to stretch her personal Brisbane winning streak to eight, while Karolina Muchova ended Elena Rybakina’s 13-match winning streak with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 upset.
Sabalenka and Muchova will meet in the semifinals on Saturday in Brisbane. Muchova leads the pair’s head to head 3-1 and has now won three straight against Sabalenka.
Rybakina, the 2024 Brisbane champion, had not lost since the quarterfinals of Wuhan last year. She won the WTA Finals last year in Riyadh.
“My last two matches, I was struggling a lot on the serve, and I think the movement was not the greatest. As I said, there is still time to work on couple of things,” Rybakina said.
Asked to be specific about her struggles, Rybakina said: “I think the toss was a bit everywhere, and also push of the legs. It all has to connect together, and I was quite off.”
Muchova, making her first appearance in Brisbane since 2020, improved to 10-10 lifetime against the Top-5 win her win and 2-1 lifetime against the former Wimbledon champion. The Czech, ranked 10, has never been to a WTA 500 final before.
“I’m super pleased. Honestly, couldn’t be better. Played three matches, two against top-10 players,” Muchova said. “It’s a way to start a year, and it’s great to have this experience on the court, so I’m very pleased.”
Sabalenka was in control from start to finish against Keys, breaking the American five times and winning nine of the final 12 games. Keys, has not defeated a Top-10 player since she capped off her Australian Open title run with a win over Sabalenka in last year’s final. Since the she has lost seven straight against the Top-10.
More to follow…
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