Aryna Sabalenka clinched her spot in the semi-finals of the Brisbane International after defeating Madison Keys 6-3 6-3 in a repeat of last year’s Australian Open final.

Keys pulled off a surprise victory in the showpiece in 2025, but Sabalenka exorcised any potential ghosts Down Under with a routine win in 90 minutes.

Sabalenka failed to convert a break point in the opening game of the match, but won the first with back-to-back breaks after holding onto her own serve in the fourth game.

The pair then exchanged serves twice in the first five games of the second, but Sabalenka broke once more before sealing the win with her second match point.

The Belarusian will be aiming to win her third Australian Open title in four years when the grand slam gets underway later this month.

“I'm just trying to bring on court things I have been working on in the pre-season, such as coming to the net,” said Sabalenka.

“I was working on my serve, and it seems that it's working a little bit better.

“I'm just trying to get some matches, get some wins, get the rhythm going again.”

The final four are set @mercedesbenz | #BrisbaneTennis pic.twitter.com/Q57e0O3Crl

— wta (@WTA) January 9, 2026

The world number one will face Karolina Muchova in the last four after she overcame Elena Rybakina 6-2 2-6 6-4.

Rybakina, who was on a career-best 13-game winning run at WTA level, struggled on serve, most notably being broken to love in the penultimate game of the third before losing.

Marta Kostyuk caused another upset in Brisbane to reach the semi-finals, defeating Mirra Andreeva 7-6 (9-7) 6-3.

After also beating Amanda Anisimova in the previous round, Kostyuk took Andreeva’s serve four times on her way to victory.

She will face Jessica Pegula, after the American’s 6-4 7-6 (7-3) win over Liudmila Samsonova.

Data Debrief: Sabalenka highlights improvements on serve

Sabalenka said she worked on her serve in pre-season, and that paid dividends for her against Keys.

She won 72.2% of her first-serve points in the match, while she won 69.8% and 65.2% of such points in her final two competitive fixtures of the 2025 season (WTA Finals matches against Anisimova and Rybakina respectively).

Kostyuk, meanwhile, has defeated multiple top-10 players in a single tournament for the first time and reached her first semi-final since 2024 in Stuttgart.