"Sabalenka will be much tougher mentally": Martina Navratilova sees Australian Open semi-final as uphill battle for Coco Gauff

Aryna Sabalenka will be a lot tougher mentally this time around when she faces Coco Gauff after the battle scars of their previous meeting believes the legendary Martina Navratilova as the mouth watering semi-final which sees the two favourites left for the Australian Open crown is set.

Gauff received criticism from some sections for her display against Marta Kostyuk, while for Sabalenka, it has been all praise as the Belarusian defending champion has eased her way through the field looking ominous and not dropping a set. Even against stern competition in Amanda Anisimova and Barbora Krejcikova, she made light work of them and heads into the latter stages in some of her best form of her career. After winning the title last year, she stands in good stead to repeat the feat especially with the other half seeing two unseeded semi-finalists but Navratilova sees only one winner in the first semi-final.

"She [Aryna Sabalenka] won three matches 3-2, one 0-1, and 0-0 against quality opponents. So yeah, I think Sabalenka is much stronger. Also, the big difference is the crowd. I think there will still be for Coco, but I think Sabalenka, having won last year and it’s Australia, not the US, they’ll make a difference," Navratilova said on Tennis Channel.
"I think Sabalenka will be much tougher mentally. I don’t think she'll let whatever happens to the crowd get to her the way she did at the US Open. Same time Coco not playing as well, particularly in this last match, so it’s gonna be a test of the mental fortitude more than anything, but the way Sabalenka’s been playing, I think it’s going to be really tough for Coco to win [the Australian Open SF] even though she’s been better in these stressful situations before," she added.