SHOCKING:Aryna Sabalenka Gets Her Revenge On Coco Gauff To..
Aryna Sabalenka Gets Her Revenge On Coco Gauff To Reach Australian Open Final.
Aryna Sabalenka got her revenge.
After losing to Coco Gauff in the U.S. Open final last summer, Sabalenka earned a measure of redemption by defeating the American, 7-6(2), 6-4 to reach the Australian Open final.
Sabalenka, last year’s Australian Open women’s champion, has yet to drop a set in the tournament. She has won 13 straight matches in Melbourne and is the first player since Serena Williams (2016-17) to reach back-to-back Australian Open finals.
Victoria Azarenka (2012-13) is the last woman to win back-to-back titles in Melbourne.
“After U.S. Open, I really wanted that revenge,” Sabalenka said after her quarterfinal victory.
The world No. 2 will be a heavy favorite in the final against either qualifier Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine or No. 12 Qinwen Zheng of China.
The tournament winner will take home more than $2 million U.S., while the runner-up receives more than $1 million.
Unlike the U.S. Open final, where Sabalenka got tight after taking the first set and lost in three, she clamped down to win in straight sets.She banged out 19 forehand winners to Gauff’s 4.
In the first set, Gauff led 6-5, 30-0 on her serve and was within two points of the set. But she missed a forehand on that point and was ultimately broken for 6-all.
Gauff lost the first seven points of the set and trailed 2-0 as Sabalenka targeted her forehand, Gauff’s weaker wing. But Gauff stabilized her forehand and served aggressively to break back twice to take the 6-5 lead.
In the second set, Gauff fought off a break point to hold for 4-3.
But serving at 4-all, Gauff was finally broken when she sailed a two-handed backhand wide on Sabalenka’s fifth break point of the set.
Serving for the match at 5-4, Sabalenka had her first match point halted when Gauff hit a forehand winner down the line.
But Sabalenka then served an ace to earn her second match point, and promptly hit a service winner to close it out.