Aryna Sabalenka marches on to set up Coco Gauff Australian Open semi-final

Photograph: Robert Prange/Getty Images

Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka will rekindle their rivalry in the semi-finals of the Australian Open, a rematch of last year’s US Open final won by Gauff, after the two champions advanced on a dramatic day at the Australian Open.

In a result that is testament to Gauff’s mental toughness, the 19-year old found a way through despite playing poorly in the opening two sets. After more than three hours in the Melbourne heat, Gauff emerged from a messy, dramatic battle to reach the semi-finals with a 7-6 (6), 6-7 (3), 6-2 win over Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine.

Later on Tuesday, Sabalenka, the second seed and defending champion, returned to the semi-finals with another imperious performance as she dominated Barbora Krejcikova 6-2, 6-3 to continue her relentless run through the draw. Sabalenka’s performance came despite her and Krejcikova taking to court two hours later than planned with Gauff and then Djokovic surviving lengthy battles on Rod Laver Arena.

Early in the first quarter-final it was Kostyuk who had thrived, demonstrating her varied skillset with her excellent athleticism, deft touch and ability to move forward to the net. The 21-year-old led 5-1 as Gauff’s unforced errors piled up. But the American forced her way back into the first set, reeling off four consecutive games before holding on in the tie-break.

“I was playing not great,” said Gauff. “I was just missing everything on both wings and not serving well. I was just trying to win one extra game. That was really the one thing. I was just, like, let me make it competitive. Obviously sometimes when you’re down 5-1 you’re not expecting to win the set. I believe every point, every game matters, and eventually the score started to get closer.”

The tables turned in the second set as Gauff led 5-3 and stood two points from victory before Kostyuk dug in, demonstrating her own grit and athleticism by recovering to force a third set against a faltering Gauff. Despite her disappointment, the US Open champion immediately recovered and produced her best level in the decisive set to see out the victory.

Afterwards, Gauff laughed as she noted that she had never read Winning Ugly, the famous book authored by her coach, Brad Gilbert, despite her mother purchasing it when they considered hiring the 62-year-old. Regardless, in her young career, Gauff has proven extremely proficient at scraping through victories when far from her best.

She is now 34-4 (89.4%) since the start of last year’s North American hard court swing at the end of July, and has won her first 10 matches of the season. With 49 victories at grand slam tournaments, the 19-year-old also ties Serena Williams for the second-most by an American teenager in the Open era. Only Jennifer Capriati (50) has won more.

Although she faltered, Kostyuk finished the biggest match of her career satisfied with her performance and fight, and excited for the year ahead. Earlier in the tournament, she said that she believes she and her fellow Ukrainian players were successful in drawing attention to the war in Ukraine. Her compatriot Dayana Yastremska will face Linda Noskova for a spot in the other semi-final on Wednesday.

“I think [the] girls did really well,” she said. “I hope we will be able to succeed on most of the tournaments, especially the big ones where there is a lot of media. I think people should be reminded.”

She continued: “I was texting with some people from Kyiv [before the match]. I said, ‘How is it? How are you guys?’ They said, ‘Well, we were looking between your score and where the missiles are flying.’ So [the war is] still there. It’s still there.”

Like Gauff, the past year has been the making of Sabalenka, who has achieved remarkable consistency at the grand slam tournaments. She has continued to perform at an incredible level early this year; not only is she yet to drop a set in Melbourne, but no opponent has yet won four games in a set against her.

Krejcikova, the 2021 French Open champion, stepped onto Rod Laver Arena with the tools to make life difficult for last year’s champion. Instead, she was bulldozed by Sabalenka, who produced another spectacular exhibition of controlled, disciplined aggression. Sabalenka is just the third female player in the 21st century to reach six semi-finals in a row after Serena Williams, who did so twice, and Capriati.

“I think my mindset is that I’m not getting crazy on court, I’m not rushing things,” said Sabalenka as she explained her semi-final streak. “I’m just playing point by point, and that’s it, and fighting for every point without overthinking about my dreams, about what I want to do, about how many slams I want to win and all that stuff.”

There is no doubt that the 25-year-old has performed at the highest level of all remaining players left in the women’s draw but Gauff showed in New York that her supreme defence can neutralise Sabalenka’s imperious attack. On Thursday, they will meet again.