SYDNEY, January 25. /TASS/. Defending Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus has reached the final of the tournament in Melbourne again this year.

In her semifinal match, which lasted one hour and 40 minutes, the 2nd-seeded Sabalenka cruised past 4th-seeded American opponent Coco Gauff in straight sets, taking her down with a final score of 7-6 (7-2); 6-4.

"It was an incredible match," the tournament’s official website quoted Sabalenka as saying.

"She's a great player, always tough battles against her. I think the key was that I was able to stay focused, no matter what, no matter what the score was, I just keep trying my best, keep fighting for it."

"It feels unbelievable… It’s tough to explain my feelings right now," she added.

In the final, Sabalenka will defend her title against Qinwen Zheng, who earlier in the day breezed past Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska 6-4; 6-4.

Zheng was understandably giddy about reaching her first Grand Slam final: "It feels unbelievable," she said.

"I’m super-excited to have such a great performance today and arrive in the final. That’s my dream since I was a kid."

"The final will be really competitive," the Chinese player added speaking about her upcoming match against the reigning Australian Open champion.

Sabalenka, 25, is currently ranked 2nd in the WTA (the Women's Tennis Association) Rankings and boasts 13 WTA tournament titles. Her lone Grand Slam win was at last year's Australian Open.

Qinwen Zheng, 21, is currently 15th in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Rankings and has won two WTA titles. Zheng’s previous best result in a Grand Slam was when she reached the quarterfinals of the 2023 US Open.

The 2024 Australian Open tournament is being played on hard courts at Melbourne Park on January 14-28 and has a purse of $57.8 mln in prize money up for grabs. The opening tournament of the annual Grand Slam series in Australia marks its 112th edition this year. Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka are the reigning Australian Open champions in men’s and women’s singles, respectively.