BRISBANE
\nWorld number one Aryna Sabalenka sent an Australian Open warning as she beat Madison Keys on Friday in Brisbane in a repeat of last year\u2019s Melbourne final.
\nKeys stunned Sabalenka nearly 12 months ago but the Belarusian took revenge on the American with a statement 6-3, 6-3 victory to reach the semi-finals.
\nKeys was playing less than 24 hours after her marathon three-hour win over Russia\u2019s Diana Shnaider and had heavy strapping on her thigh.
\nShe turned in an uncharacteristically error-strewn performance and struggled on serve as Sabalenka struck a series of superb returns.
\nSabalenka is aiming for her third Melbourne title in four years when the Australian Open begins on Jan 18.
\nShe will play Czech surprise package Karolina Muchova in the last four after the 11th seed held her nerve to see off world number five Elena Rybakina 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.
\nMuchova raced through the first set against an out-of-sorts Rybakina, who eventually found some rhythm to claim the second.
\nBut Muchova broke the former Wimbledon champion once in the third set to get over the line, helped by her opponent\u2019s 42 unforced errors. Muchova has won her past three matches against Sabalenka, although the last was in 2024 at the China Open.
\nFourth seed Jessica Pegula moved into the semi-finals with a comfortable 6-3, 7-6 (7\/3) win over Russian Liudmila Samsonova.
\nShe will now play Ukraine\u2019s Marta Kostyuk for a place in the final after Kostyuk upset rising Russian star Mirra Andreeva 7-6 (9\/7), 6-3.
\nIn the men\u2019s draw, former world number one Daniil Medvedev came from a set down to beat Poland\u2019s Kamil Majchrzak 6-7 (4\/7), 6-3, 6-2 to set up a semi-final against Alex Michelsen of the US.
\nThe second semi-final will be an all-American clash between Brandan Nakashima and Aleksa\u00adndar Kovacevic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BRISBANE World number one Aryna Sabalenka sent an Australian Open warning as she beat Madison Keys on Friday in Brisbane in a repeat of last year\u2019s Melbourne final. Keys stunned Sabalenka nearly 12 months ago but the Belarusian took revenge on the American with a statement 6-3, 6-3 victory to reach the semi-finals. Keys was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":524958,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-524940","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n