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Magda Linette didn't manage to reach the Australian Open final but admitted that just reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal at the age of 30 was "very rewarding" for all of her hard work and effort. On Thursday, Linette's sensational Australian Open run ended in the semifinal with a 7-6 (1) 6-2 defeat to Aryna Sabalenka.
Before the Australian Open, Linette had never made it past the third round of a Grand Slam. "I still don't know how I'm going to maybe realise what just happened in like a week or two. But it's really been so rewarding for all the hard work that we've done, for all the sacrifices, all these years on tour, so many Grand Slams.
It was my 30th attempt. It's really rewarding because I really needed more than a couple tries," Linette said, per the Australian Open website.
Linette disappointed she didn't convert her chances against Sabalenka
Linette broke Sabalenka to love in the very first game of the match.
Unfortunately for Linette, she didn't manage to hold on to her serve the rest of the set as Sabalenka broke back in the fourth game and the set eventually went into a tie-break. After Sabalenka dominated the first-set tie-break, Linette's game collapsed as the Belarusian broke the Pole twice in the second set to complete a two-set win.
"It's tough when you feel like you had a little bit of a lead in the first set. Of course, it doesn't mean I would win. It's always nice if you can lead and have one break to still win a set. I'm definitely going to think a little bit about it, but I didn't feel I did too much wrong.
She played really well. I thought the level was very high of this match. I'm just proud that I could keep the level for so long and still come out tonight on such a big occasion and feel I belong here, and I still played my tennis," Linette reflected.
En route to reaching the Australian Open semifinal, Linette defeated several big names such as Caroline Garcia, Karolina Pliskova and Anett Kontaveit.