• Australian Open champion was break down in third set
• Survives to secure 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 win and reach semi-final

After coming as close to defeat in Melbourne as she has for three long years, trailing by a break in the nerve-racking final set of her quarter-final match, Aryna Sabalenka drew on her unshakable mental toughness to find a way through to the semi-finals of the Australian Open with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

With an important victory, Sabalenka, the No 1 seed and two-time defending champion, has extended her winning streak at the Australian Open to 20 matches and she has now won 29 of her last 30 matches in Australia. Sabalenka, who is also 10-0 in 2025, had also won 25 consecutive sets in Melbourne until Tuesday night.