- The Australian Open will welcome the “new queen” Lebakina and Sabalenka to advance to the final
- 2023-01-27 17:08:31.0 Source: Xinhua Net Sports
Authors: Hao Yalin, Wei Hua
The women’s singles semi-finals of the 2023 Australian Open will end on the 26th. Kazakhstan’s rising star Lebakina and Belarusian star Sabalenka defeated their respective opponents to advance, and will have the final championship battle on the 28th. Both players have advanced to the Australian Open final for the first time.
The 22nd seed Lebakina and the 24th seed Azarenka staged a duel between the Grand Slam winners. The two sides fought until the “tie-break” in the first set, and Lebakina narrowly won 7:6(4). In the second set, Lebakina broke serve first in the third game, and broke serve once more in the crucial seventh game, taking the advantage 5:2. Although Azarenka broke Lebakina’s first serve to win the game, she may have been under too much pressure and kept making mistakes in the ninth game, giving Lebakina multiple match points. Lebakina easily won the second set 6:3 and won the whole game.
This is the second time that Lebakina has entered the Grand Slam women’s singles final following last year’s Wimbledon. After the game, she said that facing a Grand Slam winner like Azarenka must be a huge challenge, and the opponent is more experienced. However, compared to the semi-finals and finals of the Grand Slam for the first time at Wimbledon last year, I feel much more relaxed this time.
“I am super happy to be in the final, but also very tired. I am ready to do my best.” Lebakina said.
The other semi-final is between world No. 5 Sabalenka and Poland’s Linette. The 30-year-old Linette is the only unseeded player to enter the women’s singles semi-finals and can be called a “dark horse” at this year’s Australian Open. Previously, her best result in the Grand Slam has not been able to break through the third round, but in this tournament, she defeated Kontavit, Garcia, Pliskova and other players one following another.
In the first set, Sabalenka made too many unforced errors, allowing Linette to seize the opportunity and play until the “tie-break”. Sabalenka swept his opponent 7:1 in the “tie-break”, and his momentum increased in the second set, breaking Linette’s two serve games in a row. In the end, Sabalenka won the game with her own serve, won the second set 6:2, and entered the Grand Slam women’s singles final for the first time.
In the interview following the game, Sabalenka mightn’t help laughing happily many times. She said she felt great that night and hoped it would help her in the final. “She (Lebakina) is very good and has experience in finals. I am looking forward to playing once morest her.”
On the evening of the 27th, the two men’s singles semi-finals will be played between No. 3 seed Tsitsipas and Russian players Khachanov, Djokovic and American teenager Paul.