Sensation
A Polish woman can hide another.
After the elimination of world number 1 Iga Swiatek in the round of 16, Magda Linette qualified in the last four by beating the Czech Karolina Pliskova (31st) 6-3, 7-5.
And to think that the , 45th in the world, had never passed the third round in Grand Slam, stumbling on the 3rd round in Melbourne (2018), Paris (2017, 2021), London (2021) and New York (2020).
To discover
Australian Open: ladies schedule and results
Australian Open: men's schedule and results
The phrase
“
I have long believed that what defined me was defeat.
So I thank my coach and those around me for getting rid of this nonsense
, ”said Linette, who will celebrate her 30th birthday on February 12.
So it's never too late.
The Pole, whose best ranking until then had been 33rd, will enter the WTA Top 30 on Monday.
The stat
Karolina Pliskova, two-time Grand Slam finalist, however, seemed more nervous than her inexperienced opponent at this stage of the competition.
The Czech thus committed a total of 36 unforced errors (compared to 16 for Linette) and could not fully rely on her serve, one of her main weapons (seven double faults in total and only 29% of points won behind his second).
Too little to hope to go further...
The other first
Quickly done well done.
Aryna Sabalenka dominated Croatian Donna Vekic (64th) 6-3, 6-2 in one hour in the quarter.
At 24, the Belarusian has reached the last four of the Australian Major for the first time, where she has remained in three knockout stages in the last three editions.
She confirms her great form at the start of the 2023 season, she who has still not lost a single set of the season, which began with a title in Adelaide 1. Finalist of the last Masters, Sabalenka must now break the glass ceiling of the semis - Grand Slam finals.
The 5th in the world has already played in three Grand Slam semi-finals (Wimbledon 2021, US Open 2021 and 2022) without ever reaching the final.
The phrase
“
I didn't know this statistic and so much the better
,” joked Sabalenka after her victory.
The Belarusian had thus lost five of their previous six meetings against the Croatian.
From ancient history.
The number
Donna Vekic was notably betrayed by her serve: she committed 14 double faults (against nine for Sabalenka) and gave up her face-off five times.
Far too many to hope to go further.
Not regular enough from the baseline, the Croatian also gave too much to a Sabalenka (35 unforced errors).
