- Jelena Dokic made a strange demand on Tuesday
- She wanted something from Aryna Sabalenka
- The big star was happy to help
Jelena Dokic made a bizarre request after Aryna Sabalenka’s comfortable victory at the Australian Open.
The reigning women’s singles champion sailed through to the semi-finals on Tuesday after beating Barbora Krejcikova 6-2, 6-3 in just 71 minutes at Rod Laver Arena.
The Belarusian was on top of her game in Melbourne, and so far none of her rivals have dealt her another blow.
And former Aussie star Dokic referred to the ease with which Sabalenka wins her matches on Tuesday evening with a very strange demand.
“This may be a strange question,” she began. “You win so easily, you barely sweat, I see you bring these towels to every match and you have at least one more match.
Jelena Dokic made a very strange request at the Australian Open
“So now you have to give me a towel for 15,000 people because you have too many.”
Sabalenka found the question hilarious and grabbed a towel from her bag before handing it to Dokic.
“That answers everything,” Dokic beamed. “That’s why we love you!”
Sabalenka seemed almost invincible in this tournament. She lost only sixteen games and won every set in her first five matches.
The 25-year-old dropped a service game late in the second set to prove she was human, but still cruised to a twelfth straight victory at Melbourne Park.
“It was a really great match and I played great tennis and I hope I can continue to play like that or even better,” Sabalenka said.
“I worked so hard last year and this season I think it’s all about working hard on the practice field so you’re ready for the games.”
Aryna Sabalenka barely broke a sweat on her way to the semi-finals
Krejcikova entered the match having been on the field four hours longer than Sabalenka.
The Belarusian is aiming to become the first woman since compatriot Victoria Azarenka in 2012 and 2013 to win back-to-back Australian Open titles.
Sabalenka meets US Open champion Coco Gauff in a mouth-watering semi-final after the American fourth seed survived a three-hour epic against Ukraine’s Martya Kostyuk.
Whoever wins that match will start as the big favorite in the final, where an outsider will certainly play the decisive role.
The quarter-finals on Wednesday involve unseeded Czech teenager Linda Noskova and Ukrainian qualifier Dayana Yastremska, and Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya against China’s Qinwen Zheng.
Sabalenka could not increase her only Grand Slam title after last year’s Australian Open, despite reaching at least the semi-finals in the three other majors.