“Previous days were such tough conditions, the ball was so heavy,” said Sabalenka.

“The ball was flying like a rocket. I hope conditions are going to be the same till the end of the tournament.”

Andreeva struggled to live with Sabalenka’s power and was being pushed further back as the champion pulled off a deft drop-shot winner to lead 5-1.

A delicious backhand pass clinched the set in just 24 minutes.

Sabalenka did not let up at the start of the second set, an early break giving her a 3-1 cushion.

Andreeva showed a fleeting glimpse of her talent when saving two break points in the next.

She then created three of her own, but all were saved and the Sabalenka juggernaut could not be stopped as she cruised to the finish line.

Sabalenka can complete a hat-trick of Australian Open consecutive titles.

It is a rare feat last achieved 26 years ago by Martina Hingis and only matched by four other women in history, all legends of the sport.

Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong, Steffi Graf and Monica Seles are the others to complete the treble.

Pavlyuchenkova beat ailing Croatian 18th seed Donna Vekic 7-6 (7/0), 6-0.

Vekic needed treatment on her knee at the end of a tight first set and from then on it was one-way traffic.

Pavlyuchenkova reached the Australian Open quarter-finals in 2017, 2019 and 2020 but has never got to the last four.