"We decided to see how Novak Djokovic and Taylor Fritz match will go" - Aryna Sabalenka says she and Barbora Krejcikova opted not to change courts

Aryna Sabalenka has disclosed that she and Barbora Krejcikova opted against changing the venue of their 2024 Australian Open quarterfinal clash.

On Tuesday, January 23, Sabalenka and Krejcikova's match was scheduled to take place at the Rod Laver Arena after Novak Djokovic and Taylor Fritz's quarterfinal contest.

Djokovic and Fritz, however, were locked in an intense battle. The former took the first set after one hour and 24 minutes, and with the latter winning the second set, it looked like the contest could go the distance.

With that in mind, the organizers offered Krejcikova and Sabalenka the chance to move their match to the Margaret Court Arena. Sabalenka, however, said that they decided against it after they saw Djokovic win the third set.

"There was the possibility that one of our matches will be moved, but we just decided to see how the Novak and Fritz match will go, if it's gonna be too long, then we kind of, like, agreed for the possibility to be moved," the Belarusian said at a press conference.

"They ask our opinions, what do we think, and if we want to be moved right now. We just told them that, let's see how this match goes. If it's going to be really long, then yeah, maybe it's a good idea to be moved. But Novak won that set 6-2, and it still was quite early, and we decided to wait for this match," she added.

Sabalenka and Krejcikova's match eventually got underway just after 9 pm local time.

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Aryna Sabalenka beats Barbora Krejcikova, to face Coco Gauff in 2024 Australian Open SFs

Aryna Sabalenka at the 2024 Australian Open.

Aryna Sabalenka has been on a dominant run during her title defense at the 2024 Australian Open. She won all her matches in straight sets heading into the quarterfinals, dropping just 11 games along the way.

Against ninth seed Barbora Krejcikova, Sabalenka showed no signs of letting up. She hit 20 winners and just 13 unforced errors to wrap up the 6-2, 6-3 win in 71 minutes. With it, she became only the third player this century (after Jennifer Capriati and Serena Williams) to reach six or more Grand Slam semifinals in a row.

Sabalenka will next face World No. 4 Coco Gauff in a rematch of last year's US Open final. In the head-to-head, Gauff leads 3-1 on outdoor hardcourts and 4-2 overall.