Aryna Sabalenka’s bid for a third consecutive Australian Open championship will continue after she got past Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in a surprisingly difficult quarterfinal.

Aryna Sabalenka, the world No. 1 and two-time champion at the Australian Open, survived a major scare against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to advance to the semifinals. Sabalenka was twice a break down in the deciding set,

Paula Badosa thought she might retire due to a back injury. A year later, she's in to the semifinals against close friend Aryna Sabalenka.

Aryna Sabalenka will face close friend Paula Badosa in the semi-finals of the Australian Open after battling to victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. The two-time defending champion’s 18-match winning run at Melbourne Park looked in serious danger when she lost the second set on a windy Rod Laver Arena.

Sabalenka appeared on course to cruise through to the last four, and a clash with Paula Badosa, when she took the opening set with ease

In the Australian Open quarterfinals on Monday, Aryna Sabalenka faces Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.In her last match on Saturday, Sabalenka took down Mirra Andreeva in two sets, 6-1, 6-2, to advance

Australian Open's defending champ Aryna Sabalenka will face Mirra Andreeva in the Fourth Round of the tournament today. The match will take place in Rod Laver Arena at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT.

By Shrivathsa Sridhar MELBOURNE (Reuters) -Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open with a battling 6-2 2-6 6-3 win over Russian 27th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova,