Coco Gauff of the U.S. plays a forehand return to Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus during their semifinal match at the Australian Open tennis championships at Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
MELBOURNE – Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka avenged a U.S. Open final loss to Coco Gauff and became the first woman since Serena Williams to reach back-to-back finals at the Australian Open.
Sabalenka attacked Gauff’s serve throughout a 7-6 (2), 6-4 semifinal win on Thursday night.
She will meet Zheng Qinwen or Dayana Yastremska in Saturday’s championship decider.
Sabalenka is on a 13-match roll at Melbourne Park, where she made her Grand Slam breakthrough last year. Serena Williams reached consecutive finals here in 2016 and ’17.
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