MELBOURNE (Reuters)

Highlights of the 10th day of the Australian Open on Tuesday (times GMT):

0958 SABALENKA MOVES INTO SEMIS

Top seed Aryna Sabalenka beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2 2-6 6-3 to move into the semi-final where she will face Paula Badosa, with the Belarusian saying she “can’t wait to play” her good friend.

Sabalenka, who is chasing a ‘threepeat’ after winning the title in 2023 and 2024, dropped a set for the first time in the tournament.

“I was just praying I could try to put the ball back in these tough conditions. She played amazing tennis, very aggressive. I’m super happy to somehow win this match,” Sabalenka said.

“Now you can enjoy the match between (Novak) Djokovic and (Carlos) Alcaraz!”

0915 PAVLYUCHENKOVA LEVELS QUARTER-FINAL WITH SABALENKA

Pavlyuchenkova cut down her unforced errors and served better to win the second set 6-2 and force a decider in her quarter-final against Aryna Sabalenka, with the 27th seed converting three break points.

0836 SABALENKA TAKES FIRST SET IN 31 MINUTES

Defending champion Sabalenka moved a step closer to a third straight semi-final when the top seed took the first set 6-2 against Pavlyuchenkova.

0745 TOO MANY UNFORCED ERRORS FOR PAUL AGAINST ZVEREV

“He did what he always does,” Tommy Paul said after losing to Alexander Zverev.

“He picks up his level at the big moments and my level unfortunately dropped in the big moments today… Unfortunately, my unforced error count (56) was just too high today.”

0642 ZVEREV ADVANCES TO SEMIS

Second seed Alexander Zverev beat Tommy Paul 7-6(1) 7-6(0) 2-6 6-1 in 3-1/2 hours to reach the Melbourne semi-finals for the third time.

Zverev will play either third seed Carlos Alcaraz or 10-times champion Novak Djokovic in the last four.

0555 PAUL FIGHTS BACK IN QUARTER-FINAL

After losing two tiebreaks, Paul found his range in the third set and did not let the opportunity slip through his fingers. The American served out to love to take the set 6-2 when Zverev found the net.

Paul is a former semi-finalist at Melbourne Park, having reached the last four in 2023.

0519 ZVEREV TAKES SECOND SET IN ANOTHER TIEBREAK

Paul failed to serve out the set once again as the American went 2-0 down to Zverev, the German second seed winning the tiebreak without conceding a point 7-6(0).

Zverev also lost his cool on deuce at 4-2 when the chair umpire called ‘Let’ for a feather falling near the German as he made a return.

“It’s a feather! There are millions of them on the court,” a fuming Zverev said as he held up the feather to the umpire.

0414 ZVEREV TAKES FIRST SET AGAINST PAUL

German second seed Zverev won the opening set against American Paul 7-6(1).

Paul had the opportunity to serve out the set when the 12th seed broke late to lead 6-5 but Zverev broke straight back to force the tiebreak before running away with it.

0345 GAUFF DISAPPOINTED BUT NOT ‘CRUSHED’ AFTER DEFEAT

“I fought until the end… some matches are going to go my way, some are not,” Gauff said after losing in straight sets to Paula Badosa.

“Maybe a couple of years ago I would feel a lot more crushed and feel like the world is ending type sadness, but now I think it’s just disappointed that I could have done a little bit better in some areas.”

0227 BADOSA GETS REVENGE ON GAUFF

Spain’s Paula Badosa stunned third seed Coco Gauff 7-5 6-4 to reach the semi-final of a major for the first time.

Badosa had said before the match that she was hoping to exact revenge after Gauff beat her in the Beijing semis last year.

“I’ve been through a lot… Now I’m a better player, I handle the emotions better,” said Badosa, who beat a top-10 player at a Grand Slam for the first time.

0045 GAUFF, BADOSA GET QUARTER-FINAL ACTION UNDERWAY

Coco Gauff and Paula Badosa got the quarter-final action underway on schedule on Rod Laver Arena with the blockbuster clash between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz scheduled for the night session on the main showcourt.

The temperature at Melbourne Park was 28 degrees Celsius (82F) and forecast to peak at 29 in the afternoon.