The three-peat remains alive, but only just.
Top seed Aryna Sabalenka dropped a set for just the second time in three years at Melbourne Park on Tuesday evening, pushed hard by the power of 27th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who twice led by a break in the deciding set.
MORE: All the scores from Day 10 at AO 2025
But as she has done so often in recent years, the world No.1 came good when she needed to, her 6-2 2-6 6-3 victory setting up a semifinal against Paula Badosa, who upset Coco Gauff earlier in the day.
“Honestly I was just praying, trying to put the ball back in the court in these tough conditions,” said Sabalenka, who found a strong breeze tough to cope…