World No.1 and three-time Major winner Aryna Sabalenka has made it into her third successive Australian Open semifinal. On Tuesday, the Belarusian beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in an intense QF battle at the Rod Laver Arena. After taking the first set, she had to push herself to her limits and make a comeback. But in the end, she edged out Pavlyuchenkova with a score line of 6-2, 2-6, 6-3. It seems nothing can stop her from reaching a third straight final in Melbourne. But what’s the key reason behind this near-perfect, indomitable version of Sabalenka?

Following her quarterfinal victory, Sabalenka sat down for a press conference. During the interaction, one reporter was curious to know what’s changed in her lately while approaching the sport. Thanks to a phenomenal run last season, she succeeded in winning two Majors and made a leap from No. 3 to the very top. Not to mention her impressive singles record of 56-14 across all the WTA tours.

Reflecting on what she’s improved in herself, Sabalenka said, “I think I’m managing my emotions much better” to the extent that even if she gets “frustrated on the court, I’m able to bring my myself back on the court and shift my focus to the right direction and I think that’s been key in most of the matches.”

Her renewed approach and positive attitude were evident at the beginning of the ongoing Major Down Under. During the second-round battle against America’s Sloane Stephens, she was initially struggling. She had some hiccups where the serve wasn’t landing and she was seen visibly frustrated – yelling and shouting. But she gathered back her concentration and won the match 6-3, 6-2 against the 2017 US Open winner.

Coming back to her latest performance in the QF round, the Belarusian earned yet another achievement. With her victory on Tuesday, she’s now become the first player to win more than 19 consecutive women’s singles matches at the Australian Open since WTA icon Martina Hingis’s streak of 27 at the Major down under between 1997 and 2000. Well, there’s one more Australian Open record of Hingis that Sabalenka’s nearing to match.

Aryna Sabalenka looks set to repeat Martina Hingis’ 26-year-old Australian Open milestone

Between 1997 and 1999, the five-time Major champion won back-to-back three Australian Open titles. She was the last player to accomplish this feat. For the last 26 years, no other WTA player has been able to come close to this record. But now, Sabalenka has the chance to replicate it. She’s already clinched the Australian Open successively in 2023 and 2024.

But guess what? Sabalenka wasn’t even aware of this golden opportunity a few weeks ago! She learned about it in late December. Before kickstarting her new season in 2025, at the Brisbane International, she revealed, “Honestly, I didn’t know about that till probably few days ago when I saw, I don’t know how we say, Twitter tweet. Someone posted, whatever, saying that it’s been a while since someone won three Australian Opens in a row. I mean, it’s a little bit cool to achieve such an incredible goal, dream of so many young players.”

Only two last hurdles remain for her to make history. However, her focus will be on giving her best. In the SF round, the World No.1 will now face Spain’s Paula Badosa on Thursday at the Rod Laver Arena. Badosa is coming off her emphatic win over title favorite Coco Gauff who beat the 2024 WTA Finals winner in straight sets with a scoreline of 7-5, 6-4. The Spaniard has earned a spot in her first-ever semifinal of a Grand Slam.

Do you think Sabalenka will repeat Hingis’ record in Melbourne this month? Let us know in the comments below.