World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka sent an Australian Open warning as she beat Madison Keys on Friday in Brisbane in a repeat of last year's Melbourne final.
Keys stunned Sabalenka nearly 12 months ago but the Belarusian took revenge on the American with a statement 6-3, 6-3 victory to reach the semifinals.
Keys was playing less than 24 hours after her marathon three-hour win over Russia's Diana Shnaider and had heavy strapping on her thigh.
She turned in an uncharacteristically error-strewn performance and struggled on serve as Sabalenka struck a series of superb returns.
Sabalenka, aiming for her third Melbourne title in four years when the Australian Open begins on January 18, said the Brisbane tournament was helping her find form ahead of the first major of the year.
Sabalenka d. Keys 6-3 6-3
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) January 9, 2026
In a rematch of the 2025 AO Final, Aryna comes through
She gets her 8th consecutive win in Brisbane
She's now won 36 of last 38 matches in Australia...
✅3rd Brisbane SF
✅3-0 in 2026
It's Aryna's jungle & we're just living in it
🐅 pic.twitter.com/Rb0O7hGMJP
"I'm just trying to bring on court things I have been working on the pre-season, such as coming to the net," she said.
"I was working on my serve and it seems that it's working a little bit better.
"I'm just trying to get some matches, get some wins, get the rhythm going again."
Sabalenka will play Czech surprise package Karolina Muchova in the last four after the 11th seed held her nerve to see off world No 5 Elena Rybakina 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.
Muchova raced through the first set against an out-of-sorts Rybakina, who eventually found some rhythm to claim the second.
But Muchova broke the former Wimbledon champion once in the third set to get over the line, helped by her opponent's 42 unforced errors.
Muchova has won her past three matches against Sabalenka, although the last was in 2024 at the China Open.
"If it's a year-and-a-half back, we both are different players than we were before," Muchova said.
"But yeah, these matches before were very long battles, I think always three-setters and could have gone either way."
Fourth seed Jessica Pegula moved into the semifinals with a comfortable 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) win over Russian Liudmila Samsonova.
She will now play Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk for a place in the final after Kostyuk upset rising Russian star Mirra Andreeva 7-6 (9/7), 6-3.
In the men's draw, former world No 1 Daniil Medvedev came from a set down to beat Poland's Kamil Majchrzak 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 6-2 to set up a semifinal against Alex Michelsen of the United States.
The second semifinal will be an all-American clash between Brandan Nakashima and Aleksandar Kovacevic.