• Aryna Sabalenka defeats Magda Linette in Australian Open quarterfinals.
• Ukrainian fifth seed will play Elena in  Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup final.
• The 24-year-old has won 10 straight matches and 20 straight sets.

Aryna Sabalenka, the fifth seed, defeated Magda Linette 7-6(1), 6-2 in the Australian Open quarterfinals on Thursday to clinch a spot in her maiden Grand Slam final.

Sabalenka, who won the Adelaide International 1 three weeks ago to win her 11th career championship, has now won 10 straight matches, including a career-high 20 straight sets. Her 15-match victory streak, which included three titles at Ostrava 2020, Linz 2020, and Abu Dhabi 2021, is the longest of her career to date.

The 24-year-old had fallen to Karolina Pliskova at Wimbledon 2021, Leylah Fernandez at the US Open 2021, and Iga Swiatek at the US Open 2022 in each of her previous three Grand Slam semifinal matches.

She joins Gabriela Sabatini, Zina Garrison, Lindsay Davenport, and Jennifer Capriati as the sixth player in the Open Era to advance to a major final after suffering three or more semifinal defeats.

Sabalenka will compete against Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup final, which will determine a brand-new champion. All three of their prior meetings—at Wimbledon in 2021, Wuhan in 2019, and Abu Dhabi in 2021—were won by Sabalenka in three sets.

Sabalenka defeated Linette for the third time in as many encounters in the one-hour, 33-minute match, although it was undoubtedly the closest. She returned after collapsing in the opening set to cap off a stressful finale.

The first set’s fourth game proved crucial. In contrast to Sabalenka’s hasty blunders, Linette had a defined counterpunching strategy and good serving when she first entered the match. But with Linette serving at 2-1 and 40-0, Sabalenka cooled down and used careful point creation to break back for 2-2.

Linette continued to play at a high level for the remainder of the set, but Sabalenka’s weight of stroke allowed her to step it up and win the tiebreak.

In the second set, Sabalenka quickly took a double-break advantage and then persevered to fend off any potential tiebreakers. At 4-1, she held for 5-1 after fending off three break-back points, the third of which she saved with one of her six total aces.

In the following encounter, Linette saved three match points as Sabalenka’s mistake total increased once more. Sabalenka converted her fourth match point with a strong one-two punch, serving out the match at the first opportunity.

Sabalenka had 33 wins overall against to Linette’s nine, outnumbering her 25 unforced errors.

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