By Shrivathsa Sridhar and Ian Ransom MELBOURNE (Reuters) -Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka and Madison Keys made sluggish starts on Thursday but sealed contrasting victories to set up an Australian Open final showdown that will pit two of the game's heavy hitters against each other.

Iga Swiatek offered some high praise for Aryna Sabalenka, saying that the Belarusian tennis star basically doesn't have any weaknesses in her game since she is "solid from every position."