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,

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.

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.

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

Follow live text and radio commentary featuring Aryna Sabalenka, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic from the Australian Open quarter-finals.

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,