BRISBANE, Australia — Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the Brisbane International finals with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Karolina Muchová on Saturday.
Brisbane defending champion Sabalenka clinched victory on the fourth match point in the semi-finals at Pat Rafter Arena to advance to Sunday’s final against the winner of the semi-final between fourth seeds Jessica Pegula and Marta Kosteyuk.
On Friday, in a rematch of last year’s Australian Open final, Sabalenka broke Madison Keys’ serve in five consecutive games before winning 6-3, 6-3. Last year at Melbourne Park, Keys defeated Sabalenka to win her first Grand Slam singles title.
The Brisbane International is a warm-up event for the Australian Open, which opened on January 18 this year.
In the men’s tournament in Brisbane, top seed Daniil Medvedev will face American Alex Michelson in a later semi-final. Two Americans competed in the other semifinal, with Alexander Kovacevic taking on Brandon Nakajima.
