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Magda Linette after her quarterfinal victory
Photo: Dita Alangkara / dpa
Magda Linette and Aryna Sabalenka have reached the semifinals of the Australian Open.
First, the Pole Linette continued her unexpected run of success with a 6:3, 7:5 in the quarter-final match against the disappointing Karolína Plíšková and celebrated the biggest Grand Slam success of her career.
"A dream comes true, I'm just happy," said the 30-year-old afterwards: "I'll never forget that.
It stays for life.« So far in her career, Linette had never gotten past the third round of a Grand Slam tournament.
Plíšková, the former number one in the world, was disappointed after her performance: "I'm very disappointed with today because I thought I should and could win this match," said the Czech, who lost last year's tournament because of a missed breaking his arm.
“Obviously the serve wasn't good at all today.” In the end, the 30-year-old had seven double faults and 36 unforced faults.
Linette is the third Polish woman to reach the semifinals of the Australian Open in the professional era.
Her compatriot Iga Świątek, who traveled to Down Under as the world number one as a tournament favorite, was eliminated in the round of 16 this year.
Sabalenka will not lose a set in 2023
In the fight to reach the final, Linette will face Sabalenka on Thursday.
The fifth seeded Belarusian then defeated the Croatian Donna Vekić 6: 3, 6: 2 in the Rod Laver Arena and reached a Grand Slam semi-final for the fourth time in her career.
In her nine matches this year, Sabalenka has not lost a single set.
"I'm super happy with the win, the atmosphere was incredible," said Sabalenka, who has now gotten her service problems under control.
The 24-year-old is still hoping for her first big title: "It feels special here," said Sabalenka.
mfu/dpa