The women’s singles semifinals will be played on Thursday night in Melbourne.
We are potentially one round away from a blockbuster championship match in women’s singles featuring the top two players in the world. But first, each must overcome an in-form player who is about to break back into the world’s top 10. Two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka plays close friend Paula Badosa, while five-time Major champion Iga Swiatek takes on 2017 US Open finalist Madison Keys.
Plus, Day 12 begins with the men’s doubles semifinals, featuring three of the top six seeds.
Aryna Sabalenka (1) vs. Paula Badosa (11) – 7:30pm on Rod Laver Arena
Badosa was most impressive in upsetting Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals. While Gauff was extremely error-prone during that contest, striking an alarming 41 unforced errors in just two sets, there was still a lot of pressure on Paula to finish off that match. She had never before reached a Slam semifinal, and had earned a reputation as a player who got nervous in big matches.
Sabalenka previously owned the same reputation, especially after losing five of her first six Slam semifinals in tight three-setters. But she’s now claimed her last three, and has now claimed six consecutive sets in Major semis. Aryna is also on a 19-match win streak at hard court Majors. She has simply separated herself from the field by a wide margin at such events.
Badosa claimed their first two meetings, back in 2021, but Sabalenka has now claimed their last five, including three during 2024. Aryna is a considerable favorite to achieve her third consecutive final in Melbourne. Her ball striking on this surface will be tough for anyone to overcome across the next few days.

Madison Keys (19) vs. Iga Swiatek (2) – Last on Rod Laver Arena
Swiatek leads their head-to-head 4-1, though they are tired at 1-1 on hard courts, with Keys’ victory coming on a similarly-fast hard court in Cincinnati. However, this court won’t be playing quite as fast on Thursday night, with cooler temperatures forecasted. Though this could become an indoor semifinal due to possible rain, and the roof closing would create less variable conditions, favoring Madison.
Keys is currently on an 11-match win streak, equaling the longest of her career. She has now overcome three seeded players in as many rounds (Collins, Rybakina, Svitolina), and has been striking the ball as well as I’ve ever seen her, especially her backhand. In an interview with Ben Rothenberg, Madison’s coach and new husband Bjorn Frantangelo described how an off-season change from a Wilson racquet to a Yonex racquet deserves some of the thanks. And during Madison’s quarterfinal against Svitolina, Rennae Stubbs of ESPN described how Keys has also made a change to her strings, giving Keys a bit more control. The new strings do not allow the ball to fly off her racquet quite as wildly, helping Madison overhit the ball less than in the past.
Swiatek’s new coach Wim Fisette also helped his charge make some off-season adjustments, mostly in the way Iga is approaching hard court tennis. Fisette described to both ESPN and Eurosport how Swiatek previously looked to hit flatter on hard courts than she did on clay, but he has encouraged her to utilize the same RPM’s off her groundstrokes that make her so tough to play on clay. The results have so far been positive, as Iga has been completely dominant to this stage, dropping only 14 games through 10 sets.
So as confident as Keys is currently playing, and as imposing as her power can be, Swiatek should still be favored on Thursday evening. Iga is extremely tough to thwart when she builds as much momentum as she has during the past two weeks. And perhaps most importantly, these players have exactly opposite records in this round of a Slam. Swiatek is 5-1 in Major semifinals, while Keys is 1-5, with those five losses creating some significant scar tissue for Madison. Most recently, in the 2023 US Open semifinals, Keys was up a set-and-a-break against Sabalenka, and even served for the match at 5-4 in the second, yet eventually lost in a third-set tiebreak.
Other Notable Matches on Thursday:
Andre Goransson and Sam Verbeek vs. Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori (3) – Bolelli and Vavassori are 8-0 to start the season, after winning the title in Adelaide, and they are yet to lose a set this fortnight. This is a first Major semifinal for Goransson and Verbeek, who in the last round upset the top-seeded team of Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic.
Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz (4) vs. Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten (6) – Krawietz and Puetz are vying for their second consecutive Major final, after losing the championship match in New York to Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson. Heliovaara and Patten were the surprise champions six months ago at Wimbledon, where they defeated Purcell and Thompson in a thrilling final.
Thursday’s full Order of Play is here.