Fired-up Sabalenka races into Adelaide final

World number five Aryna Sabalenka surged into the final of the Adelaide International Saturday, crushing Romanian veteran Irina-Camelia Begu for the loss of just five games.

Her reward is a title-match against either world number two Tunisian Ons Jabeur or rising Czech teenager Linda Noskova as she hits her stride ahead of the Australian Open.

“I’m happy with the level I played today,” said the Belarusian, who is targeting an 11th career title and a first since winning at Abu Dhabi and Madrid in 2021, after winning 6-3, 6-2.

“She’s playing a different style so super happy that I was able to be in the match.

“We did everything right in the pre-season, I think this is the key,” she added in explaining her good early-season form, where she is yet to drop a set.

Begu had beaten seventh seed Jelena Ostapenko and fourth seed Veronika Kudermetova enroute to the last four, but was no match for the power of the Sabalenka serve and her ferocious returns.

Men’s top seed Novak Djokovic, who has an ominous 21-1 record since September, takes on Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev in an evening semi-final.

The world number five Serbian holds an 8-4 edge in their head-to-head, with 10 of the 12 showdowns coming on hard courts.

The winner will meet either American Sebastian Korda or Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka in the final.