Aryna Sabalenka reaches her third consecutive WTA-500 final in Brisbane

Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka has reached her third consecutive final of the WTA-500 tournament in Brisbane, Australia, with a prize fund of $1.2 million, BELTA reports.

In the first semifinal, the world's number one tennis player faced Czech tennis player Karolina Muchova, ranked 20th in the world, and won in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.

At the current competition in Brisbane, Sabalenka defeated Spain's Kristina Buxu (50) 6-0, 6-1, Romania's Sorana Cirstea (41) 6-3, 6-3, and American Madison Keys (7) 6-3, 6-3. A year ago, in the Brisbane International final, Aryna Sabalenka defeated Russian tennis player Polina Kudermetova.

Another Belarusian tennis player, Aliaksandra Sasnovich (113), defeated Russia's Anna Blinkova (61) in the round of 32, 7-5, 6-1. In the second round, she defeated Denmark's Clara Tausson (14), 6-3, 6-3, and lost to Russia's Lyudmila Samsonova (17), 4-6, 4-6, in the round of 16. Sasnovich advanced to the main draw through qualifying, defeating Bulgaria's Victoria Tomova (128), 6-2, 6-2, and Uzbekistan's Maria Timofeeva (138), 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.

The tournament in Brisbane will conclude on January 11.