TENNIS – ARYNA Sabalenka swept to her fourth successive Australian Open final with a 6-2 6-3 victory over Ukrainian Elina Svitolina yesterday in a semi-final overshadowed by geopolitical tension and will play familiar rival Elena Rybakina next.
Rybakina set up a blockbuster rematch of the 2023 final at Melbourne Park by overcoming American Jessica Pegula 6-3 7-6(7), as the Russian-born Kazakh ramped up her own hunt for a second major title following her 2022 Wimbledon triumph.
Top-seeded Belarusian Sabalenka will seek her third title at the tournament in four years and fifth Grand Slam trophy overall after another dominant display at what is now firmly her favourite hunting ground.
“I just can’t believe that. It’s an incredible achievement but the job is not done yet,” world number one Sabalenka said.
“I’m super happy with the win. She’s such a tough opponent and has been playing incredible tennis the whole week.”
The defining moment for Sabalenka proved to be a hindrance call from the chair umpire mid-rally in the first set for a late non-standard grunt, a decision that stood following a video review and left the player fuming.
“It was the wrong call, but whatever,” Sabalenka said.
“She really – how do I say in a nice way – pissed me off, and it helped me and benefited my game.
“I was more aggressive. I was not happy with the call.”
Since Russia’s invasion of its neighbour Ukraine in 2022, for which Belarus has been a staging ground, players from Russia and Belarus have been banned from representing their nations at the Grand Slams and tour events.
Svitolina has been vocal about the strain of playing the countries’ players, and said that she hoped to bring her country “light” at the Australian Open amid a tough winter.
The 27-year-old Sabalenka, however, crushed those hopes in a furious display of raw power.
She became the third woman in the professional era to reach the Australian Open decider four times in a row following Evonne Goolagong Cawley (1971-76) and Martina Hingis (1997-2002), who each played six finals in a row.
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