- Jelena Dokic made a strange demand on Tuesday
- She wanted something from Aryna Sabalenka
- The big-hitting star was happy to oblige
Jelena Dokic made a bizarre request following Aryna Sabalenka’s comfortable victory at the Australian Open.
The reigning women’s singles champion sailed through to the semi finals on Tuesday after dispatching Barbora Krejcikova 6-2, 6-3 in just 71 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
The Belarusian has been well on top of her game in Melbourne, with none of her rivals yet to land a blow on her thus far.
And former Aussie star Dokic made reference to the ease at which Sabalenka is winning her matches with a very strange demand on Tuesday night.
‘This might be a weird question,’ she began. ‘You’re winning so easily, you’re barely sweating, I see you’re taking these towels every match and you’ve got at least one more match.
Jelena Dokic made a very strange request at the Australian Open
‘So now, in front of 15,000 people you need to give me a towel, because you’ve got too many.’
Sabalenka found the question hilarious and plucked a towel from her bag before handing it to Dokic.
‘That answers everything,’ Dokic beamed. ‘That’s why we love you!’
Sabalenka has looked closed to invincible in this tournament, dropping just 16 games and winning every set across her first five matches.
The 25-year-old did drop a service game late in the second set to prove she was human, but still cruised to a 12th-straight victory at Melbourne Park.
‘It was a really great match and I played really great tennis and I hope I can just keep playing that way or even better,’ Sabalenka said.
‘I’ve been working so hard last year and this pre-season, I think it’s all about hard work on the practice court so you’re ready for the matches.’
Aryna Sabalenka has barely broken a sweat on her way to the semi finals
Krejcikova entered the match having been on court for four hours longer than Sabalenka.
The Belarusian is aiming to become the first woman since countrywoman Victoria Azarenka in 2012 and 2013 to win two-straight Australian Open titles.
Sabalenka will meet 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 encounter will start as a heavy favourite in the final, with a rank outsider certain to be in the decider.
The quarter finals on Wednesday involve unseeded Czech teenager Linda Noskova and Ukraine qualifier Dayana Yastremska, and Russian Anna Kalinskaya against China’s Qinwen Zheng.
Sabalenka was unable to add to her sole grand slam title after last year’s Australian Open despite reaching at least the semi-finals in the the three other majors.