Sabalenka’s Australian Open prep sets up Brisbane final against Kostyuk

Aryna ‌Sabalenka beats Karolina Muchova to reach Brisbane Open final where she will defend title against Marta Kostyuk.Published On 10 Jan 2026Defending champion Aryna ‌Sabalenka outclassed Karolina Muchova to seal a 6-3 6-4 win at the Brisbane International and reach the ‍final of the Australian Open tune-up tournament for the third straight year.In Sunday’s title clash, the Belarusian will face Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, who cruised past world number six Jessica Pegula 6-0 6-3 for her third straight top-10 win after also defeating Amanda Anisimova and ⁠Mirra Andreeva in her last two rounds.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4India-Bangladesh tensions rock cricket, as sport turns diplomatic weaponlist 2 of 4Real star Mbappe could face Barcelona but Madrid not ‘kamikaze’ over healthlist 3 of 4‘I didn’t set out to break records’: Pakistan’s first female MMA fighterlist 4 of 4Algeria vs Nigeria: A clash of AFCON’s tightest defence and its top scorersend of listWorld number one Sabalenka has been in similarly superb form in her ​first tournament of the season, and arrived for her match against Muchova on Saturday having defeated ‍reigning Melbourne Park champion Madison Keys in straight sets in the quarterfinals.Things were expected to be trickier against Muchova, who is known for her inventive brand of tennis and had racked up a 3-1 career head-to-head record over Sabalenka, ‍including victories in ⁠their previous three meetings.Sabalenka shrugged off that statistic to take full control of the semifinal clash with a break in the second game, before she displayed deft touches and power from the baseline to take the first set, which she finished with a huge backhand winner.The four-time Grand Slam champion, who is eyeing her third Australian Open trophy when the tournament begins on January 18 at Melbourne Park, was pushed harder in the next set but edged ahead ​again at 5-4 to wrap up the win on serve.“There were a ‌lot of close misses at the end of the second set but I’m super happy to close this match in straight sets,” said Sabalenka, who prevailed on her fourth match point.