Aryna Sabalenka, the world No. 1 and two-time champion at the Australian Open, survived a major scare against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to advance to the semifinals. Sabalenka was twice a break down in the deciding set,

Aryna Sabalenka's bid for a third consecutive Australian Open championship will continue after she got past Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 in a surprisingly difficult quarterfinal Tuesday night.

MELBOURNE - Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open with a battling 6-2 2-6 6-3 win over Russian 27th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, as her quest for a third straight title at Melbourne Park gained momentum.

Aryna Sabalenka needed to come from a break down in the third set twice to defeat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova at the Australian Open and reach her milestone 10th Grand Slam semifinal.

Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek are clear favourites to win their respective semi-finals on Thursday and set up a blockbuster Australian Open title decider.She has exuded an air of calmness and confidence as she aims not only to win a maiden Australian Open title but also retake the number one ranking from Sabalenka.

Aryna Sabalenka kept a historic Australian Open hat-trick on track Tuesday as she battled past Russian 27th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 in the quarter-finals. An exchange of breaks took the Russian to a 5-2 lead and she served out to love to level the match.