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Sabalenka surged into the final with a 7-6(1), 6-2 win over unseeded Pole Magda Linette to extend her unbeaten start to the year.
The 33-year-old Belarusian twice champion has worn shirts showing support for French soccer champions PSG at the tournament and as a gesture to her six-year-old son Leo, who is also a big fan of the Paris club.
Russian and Belarusian flags are banned from Melbourne Park during the Australian Open after a complaint from the Ukraine ambassador to the country.
Azarenka rolled back the years as the two-time champion crushed third seed Jessica Pegula 6-4, 6-1.
Fellow lefthander Draper played superb tennis to level the match at a set all but the 21-year-old soon developed leg troubles and was left groaning in pain as Nadal closed out the match on a warm and sunny afternoon at Rod Laver Arena.
The last time the two sides met was at the Twenty20 World Cup in October, where more than 90,000 fans piled into the Melbourne Cricket Ground to watch India win a last-ball thriller.
M T Vasudevan Nair is the only other writer from Kerala to win the recognition.
It was Pegula's 41st match victory in WTA main draws this year, with only world No. 1 Iga Swiatek (62) and the second-ranked Ons Jabeur (46) winning more.
She will join Iga Swiatek, Ons Jabeur, Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, Caroline Garcia, Aryna Sabalenka and Daria Kasatkina at the season finale.
Greek fourth seed Sakkari kept alive her hopes of making the Finals by surviving an early scare and fighting back from a set down to beat American Danielle Collins 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.