Aryna Sabalenka moved one win away from becoming the first woman since 1999 to win three consecutive Australian Open titles, recovering from a slow start to beat good friend Paula Badosa 6-4, 6-2 Thursday night and return to the final.

MELBOURNE, Australia — Aryna Sabalenka continued her charge towards a third-straight Australian Open title by overwhelming her “soulmate” Paula Badosa 6-4, 6-2 in Thursday evening’s semifinal.

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka marched into her third straight Australian Open final with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Spain’s Paula Badosa in Melbourne on Thursday.

World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka looks unstoppable once again at the. The two-time champion raced past Paula Badosa to become the first woman to make three consecutive finals at Melbourne Park since Serena Williams.

MELBOURNE : Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka put her close friendship with Paula Badosa aside today to sweep past the Spaniard into a third successive Australian Open final. The Belarusian world No 1 came home 6-4, 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena and will meet either Polish second seed Iga Swiatek or American 19th seed Madison Keys in Saturday’s decider.

By Shrivathsa Sridhar MELBOURNE (Reuters) -Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka and Madison Keys made rocky starts on Thursday but eventually secured contrasting victories to set up a heavy metal Australian Open final showdown that will pit two of the game's big hitters against each other.