World number 1 and three-time Grand Slam champion Aryna Sabalenka beat world number 16 Mirra Andreeva 6-3 6-2 to reach the final at the Brisbane International. Sabalenka saved all eight points she faced.
Sabalenka won this tournament in 2023 when it was held in Adelaide and reached the final in 2024 when she finished runner-up to Elena Rybakina.
Sabalenka reached her first final of the 2025 final without dropping a set in the whole tournament against Renata Zarazua, Yulia Putintseva, Marie Bouzkova and Mirra Andreeva.
The match was not so easy as the match suggests.
Seventeen-year-old Andreeva was not able to convert on three break points in the first game and another chance in the seventh game when Sabalenka held serve for 4-3. Sabalenka earned the first break in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead. Andreeva earned a break point chance, but she was not able to convert it.
Andreeva failed to convert a total of three break point across the second and fourth games of the second set. Sabalenka broke twice in the third and seventh games to seal the second set 6-2.
Sabalenka ended the match with 26 winners to 22 unforced errors. Andreeva hit 23 winners to 26 unforced errors.
Andreeva was playing the second WTA 500 semifinal of her career after reaching the first in Ningbo last year.
“It’s always the same tactic for me: stay aggressive and put my opponent under so much pressure. I am really glad that I was able to play such aggressive tennis against Mirra. It seems like everything was working really well for me. She is an amazing, young player. I am pretty that she is going to be top 10 soon and for so long”, said Sabalenka.
Sabalenka set up a final against a final against world number 107 Polina Kudemertova, who beat Anhelina Kalinina 66-4 6-3.
Kudemertova came through the qualifying round before beating Wang Xinyu, Liudmila Samsonova, Ashlyn Krueger and Anhelina Kalinina to reach the biggest final of her career.
Twenty-one year-old Kudemertova reached the quarter finals in Seoul and the semifinals in Merida during a successful 2024 season.
