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World No.1 Sabalenka defeats Pavlyuchenkova, advances to 2025 Australian Open semis

Next up for Aryna Sabalenka in her quest to three-peat at the Australian Open will be a showdown with 11th-seeded Spaniard Paula Badosa

SYDNEY, January 21. /TASS/. The world’s top player Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus reached the semifinals round of the 2025 Australian Open after defeating Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Tuesday.

In a back-and-forth quarterfinals match that lasted just under two hours, Sabalenka, the tournament’s top-seed and two-time reigning Champion, cut down the 27th-seeded Pavlyuchenkova 6-2; 2-6; 6-3. Both players are playing at the tournament under a neutral status.

Speaking after the match, Sabalenka said: "Honestly I was just praying, trying to put the ball back in the court in these tough conditions."

"It was very difficult to play. She played amazing tennis, very aggressive, I’m just super happy I was somehow magically able to win this match," the tournament’s official website quoted her as saying.

"Sometimes it’s maybe good to have these tough battles, to go through it, to be tougher for the last stages of the tournament," Sabalenka said.

"I wish I could win this match in straight sets, but I’m happy to be through," the Belarusian player, who today lost just her second set in the last three years playing in Melbourne, added.

Next up for Sabalenka in her quest to three-peat at the Australian Open will be a semifinals showdown with 11th-seeded Spaniard Paula Badosa, who earlier defeated 3rd-seeded Coco Gauff of the United States 7-5; 6-4.

The 26-year-old Belarusian player has 18 WTA (the Women’s Tennis Association) titles under her belt, as well as three Grand Slam wins (2023, 2024 Australian Open, 2024 US Open).

Pavlyuchenkova, 33, is the world’s 32nd-ranked player, according to the WTA. She has 12 career WTA titles. Her best result at Grand Slams was in 2021 when she reached the final of the French Open.

The Russian, who is playing internationally under a neutral status, also won a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo in mixed doubles (with teammate Andrey Rublev), as well as the 2021 Billie Jean King Cup as part of the Russian national team.

The 2025 Australian Open tournament is being played on hard courts at Melbourne Park on January 12-26 and has a purse of $59.7 million in prize money up for grabs. The season’s first Grand Slam, this year marks the 113th edition of the tournament. Italy’s Jannik Sinner and Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka are the reigning Australian Open champions in men’s and women’s singles, respectively.

Russian players’ neutral status at tennis tournaments

On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.

Following the IOC's recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) ruled on March 1, 2022 to suspend the membership of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis federations while also canceling all previously scheduled tennis tournaments in the two countries.

On March 14, 2022, the ITF also confirmed its prohibition on the Russian and Belarusian national tennis teams from taking part in the 2022 Davis Cup and 2022 Billie Jean King Cup.

However, the Women Tennis Association (WTA) and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) allowed tennis players from Russia and Belarus to continue participating in WTA and ATP tournaments, but only under a neutral status.

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