Brisbane International Semifinal: Aryna Sabalenka gets revenge on Muchova, ready to defend her crown

Aryna Sabalenka has reached the final of the Brisbane International once again—for the third consecutive year—after defeating the tricky Karolina Muchova in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4. The world No. 1 will now look to defend the title she already won in 2024 against the winner of the match between Jessica Pegula and Marta Kostyuk.

The four-time major champion managed to get revenge against one of her toughest rivals—considering that Muchova had won three consecutive matches against Sabalenka. The world No. 1 had only won their first encounter back in 2019, but since then Muchova had prevailed three times, all in three-set battles.

Sabalenka secures some points ahead of traveling to the Australian Open and will face one final challenge in pursuit of her 22nd career title this Sunday. On the other hand, Muchova retires from the tournament with a strong start to the year, which allows her to move up one spot to No. 19—just as a month approaches in which she has a large portion of her points to defend in February.

In the first set, the Belarusian quickly took the lead, breaking early and holding strong service games to go up 3-0. Sabalenka was even more effective than in her previous duels with her first serve, winning an almost perfect 94% of first-serve points, compared to Muchova’s 70%.

Muchova’s variety on serve was not enough to easily win her service games, as Sabalenka constantly made her work hard for points. Muchova saved a couple of break points at 2-5, and Sabalenka had to wait until she served again, but eventually claimed the first set comfortably 6-4 after 37 minutes of play.

The second set remained tight, especially because Muchova improved her second-serve effectiveness—from a poor 20% to 50%—and Sabalenka looked slightly more erratic and rushed trying to win quick points.

The set was evenly contested, with no clear advantage for either player until the final moments. At 3-4, 15-40 on serve, Sabalenka gave Muchova a couple of valuable break chances, but the world No. 1 showed her worth at important moments and held serve. She then took advantage of the pressure and responded with a quick break in the next game.

The defending champion kept her composure, moved ahead 5-4, and with serve in hand aimed to close the win. Even though she had some difficulties—wasting three match points with unforced errors—Sabalenka ultimately claimed victory, taking the last three games consecutively to win 6-3, 6-4 and return to the Brisbane final.

The 21-title champion, in WTA-level form, aims to start the season with another trophy. She will have the chance this Sunday to contest the final against the winner of the Pegula vs. Kostyuk match, which will take place Saturday afternoon. Sabalenka dominates both head-to-heads: 9-3 against the American and 4-0 against the Ukrainian.