And then there were four. It’s semifinal time down under! Day 12 of the Australian Open will feature both women’s semifinals in blockbuster Rod Laver night session.



When the day is done, the women’s final will be set.

The full Day 12 order of play is here:

Sabalenka vs Badosa
Head-to-Head: Sabalenka leads 5-2

On paper Aryna Sabalenka’s semifinal with surging Spaniard Paula Badosa looks like an easy win for the No. 1 seed. She has won their last five meetings and is generally thought of as the world's best hardcourt player these days.

But Badosa is in a different place right now, after putting the agonizing pain and doubt of her debilitating back injury behind her, and she’s been dangerous in Melbourne, as her quarterfinal victim, third-ranked Coco Gauff, can attest.

Two-time defending champion Sabalenka, who has now won 19 consecutive matches in Melbourne Park, will not be overconfident.

“She's a great player and she has been through a lot,” Sabalenka said. “Now she's back on her best game. I'm really happy to see that. I saw her games here. She's playing really great tennis, I think. I think I just need to focus on myself, and I have to stay aggressive, and I have to put her under a lot of pressure.”



Badosa was suffering and receiving injections for a stress fracture in her back last year, and seriously considered that she might be at the end of her career.

“That moment I was thinking maybe I'm not made for being back again,” Badosa said. “I was doubting a lot. Well, here I am. So I'm really proud of what we went through with all my team and especially how I fighted through all that, especially mentally.”

Now she’s learned to enjoy all the high points of her career, and appreciate them more. No matter what happens against Sabalenka in the semifinals, Badosa will have a lot to be excited about when she leaves Australia.

“I think it changed me, especially to appreciate more the moments,” she said after taking out Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals. “When I win a match like this, I try to soak it all in. I get emotional because it means a lot to me.”



Swiatek vs Keys
Head-to-Head: Swiatek leads 4-1

Iga Swiatek has been ruthless through her first five rounds in Melbourne, dropping just 14 games, which is the lowest total of any player since 2013 through the quarterfinal round.

But Swiatek hasn’t faced a player as menacing as American Madison Keys yet.

The five-time major champion will have to be careful against the hyper aggressive keys, who is one of the few players that can take the racquet out of anyone’s hands when she’s hitting well.

“Madison is a great player and really experienced,” Swiatek said on Wednesday after defeating Emma Navarro in straight sets. “You never know, the match that I lost she kind of killed me, so it can be tricky— we’re all aware of how she can play.”

Keys is into her third Australian Open semifinal, while Swiatek is into her second. But it is the Pole who has attracted more attention based on her scintillating form so far this fortnight. Keys is well aware of what she’s up against, having lost four of five previous meetings to Swiatek. She’ll have to be sensational to come through their sixth career meeting – nothing else will be good enough.

“I think the biggest thing that makes her so difficult to beat is because since she moves so well, if you miss your spot just slightly, she has enough time to recover, and then the point goes back to neutral,” Keys said of Swiatek after her quarterfinal win over Elina Svitolina.

“So I think it's really hard to ever really get ahead in a point. I think for most of us out here, you are not really going to try to out-defend Iga. So then there's just such a balance of being aggressive and trying to get her to move and going for things, but not pressing too hard and not going for anything too quickly. So I think she just does such a good job at making people start going for a little bit too much too quickly.”