WATCH the WTA Tour LIVE in Australia on beIN SPORTS | Subscribe here and take advantage of our 7-day FREE TRIAL

The Czech prevailed in two hours and 48 minutes with a 7-6 (7-5) 2-6 6-4 win over the No.1 seed.

Muchova started strong, forcing Sabalenka to defend three break points in the opening game, but they were evenly matched throughout.

Sabalenka almost took the first set, but Muchova held her nerve, successfully fighting back against two set points before taking the tie-break.

The Belarusian looked back to her free-flowing best in the second, earning two breaks as she forced the decider in comfortable fashion.

Sabalenka took an early lead in the final set, but from 4-2 down, Muchova clawed her way back, going on a four-game winning streak at the end to book a meeting with home favourite Qinwen Zheng or Mirra Andreeva in the final four.

Given Sabalenka's recent hot streak, this does look like an upset, but it is actually pretty run-of-the-mill for Muchova.

She has now won her past three matches against Sabalenka in WTA events, defeating her at Cincinnati, Roland Garros 2023 and China Open 2024.

Excluding the BJK Cup, only Iga Swiatek (85.3 per cent) has a higher winning percentage than Muchova on hard-court in WTA events during 2024 (84.6 per cent, 11-2), surpassing Sabalenka (82.5 per cent, 33-7).

The 28-year-old has reached just her second career semi-final and is the player with the fewest WTA-1000 wins during the season before the start of the China Open (one) to reach this stage of the tournament.