The Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka27 years old and number 1 in the world, he celebrated a few points much more than victory, qualifying for the fourth consecutive final at the Australian Open. It’s not enough to reach the last game, at his level only the trophy can make him happy in Melbourne.
He lifted it in 2023 and 2024, Madison Keys took it from him in 2025. He returns to the fray, having won eleven games this season, without any failures. He has not yielded a set in six matches in this Grand Slam.
He didn’t give the Ukrainian option Elina Svitolina, which suffered its first defeat in eleven games played this season. The veteran mother, 31 years old and number 12, gave in 6-2 and 6-3 in 1h16′. He was already guaranteed to return to the top-10, where he hadn’t been since October 15, 2021.
Excellent campaign from Svitolina, although the semifinals remain her limit at the Grand Slam. He fell for the fourth time. Sabalenka was too much for her, and she took a 2-0 lead in the second set, it was more because Aryna took a break.
Recent WTA 500 champion from Brisbane, Sabalenka will compete in her eighth Grand Slam final, the 42nd of her career. He has 22 titles, four ‘big’ ones. In addition to the Australian pair, two others at the US Open (2024 and 2025).
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On Saturday, at 9:30 am, final against the winner of the second semi-final, between Kazakhstan Elena Rybakina and the American Jessica Pegula. Just like their colleagues from Thursday’s first match, both reached the penultimate round without having given up a set. Although both have known defeat before: the European team is 7-1 this season, the American team has won 8 of their 9 games.
