On Day 10 of the Australian Open, American Tommy Paul punched his ticket to somewhere he's never gone before: the semifinal of a Grand Slam.
During this bracket-busting tournament, the number of players who could conceivably beat Novak Djokovic dwindled more and more each day. In the end, the only one left who even had a shot was Rublev. And when he finally faced Djokovic, there was no question as to who the more dominant player was — and it wasn't Rublev.Aryna Sabalenka, the No. 5 seed, bounded into the semifinals on Wednesday after a convincing 6-3, 6-2 victory over unseeded upstart Donna Vekic.
Sabalenka was never seriously in trouble during the match. She and Vekic tied twice during the first set, which included a number of very long games, but she never trailed. In the second set, Sabalenka jumped out to a 3-0 lead before Vekic even got on the board. Standing over six-feet tall and with incredible strength, Sabalenka is a menace even when she's not at her best. Unfortunately for Vekic, she was at her best on Wednesday, as she's been for awhile now.
Sabalenka has been on an absolute tear over the past few months. She's made the semifinals in four of her last six Grand Slams, and keeps getting closer and closer to making it to the top. With the rest of Sabalenka's opponents being unseeded, this could be her moment.Late bloomer Magda Linette's Australian Open dream isn't over yet. The unseeded 30-year-old beat No. 30 Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 7-5 in decisive fashion, with the match lasting less than 90 minutes.
However, it didn't begin well for Linette. She started on serve and was immediately broken by Pliskova. It felt like a bad omen, but she rebounded quickly and won six of the next eight games to take the first set. Things got harder in the second set with Pliskova fighting for her life, but Linette was able to handle the uptick in intensity by staying calm, something she later said was her greatest accomplishment of the match.
Pliskova actually got pretty close to forcing a third set. Tied 5-5 in the second set, she had the chance to take the lead. Unfortunately, she was undone by two straight double faults followed by a bad forehand mistake. Linette saw the opening, jumped through it, and quickly closed out the match.
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