Brisbane International: Sabalenka wins 14th in a row in Australia; Rune, Dimitrov seal SF spots

Brisbane: Aryna Sabalenka racked up a 14th straight win on Australian soil after dispatching Kasatkina 6-1, 6-4 to reach the final four of the Brisbane International. The defending Australian Open champion has dropped just nine games through three matches so far this week in her first appearance at the tournament.

She will next face No.8 seed Victoria Azarenka in what will be the pair’s fifth career meeting; Sabalenka owns a 3-1 head-to-head lead so far, including wins in the 2020 Ostrava final and their most recent meeting in the 2021 Montreal quarterfinals.

In the men’s singles, top seed Holger Rune of Denmark rode a fast start to down James Duckworth 6-2, 7-6(6) and reached the semifinals.

The 20-year-old Rune reeled off five games in a row to seize the opening set inside Pat Rafter Arena before digging deep to clinch a second-set tie-break and seal a one-hour, 46-minute triumph in his maiden ATP Head-to-Head clash with home favourite Duckworth.

The Dane will look to continue his impressive start to the year in his semifinal against Roman Safiullin, who defeated Matteo Arnaldi 7-6(4), 6-2 earlier on Friday.

Meanwhile, second seed Grigor Dimitrov also booked his spot in the last four with a straight-sets win. The Bulgarian overcame Rinky Hijikata 6-1, 6-4 to reach his fifth Brisbane semifinal.

By improving to 21-6 at the ATP 250, Dimitrov extended his lead as the player with the most wins in tournament history.

The 2017 champion’s next opponent in Queensland could be Rafael Nadal if the Spaniard defeat home favourite Jordan Thompson on Friday.

–IANS