Sabalenka storms into fourth Straight Australian Open final
Aryna Sabalenka produced a composed and commanding performance to defeat Elina Svitolina and book a place in her fourth consecutive Australian Open final.
The world number one brushed aside a brief dip in form and a controversial hindrance call to beat Svitolina 6-2, 6-3, News.Az reports, citing BBC Sport.
Despite some early disruption, including a ruling against her in the fourth game, Sabalenka’s power and focus proved far too much for the Ukrainian.
Svitolina, the tournament’s 12th seed, had reached the semi-finals after defeating two top-10 opponents but was unable to cope with Sabalenka’s relentless baseline aggression. Sabalenka has not dropped a set during the tournament and extended her winning streak to 11 matches.
The Belarusian will face either Elena Rybakina or Jessica Pegula in Saturday’s final as she bids for a fifth Grand Slam singles title and a third Australian Open crown.
At 27, Sabalenka is also chasing redemption after last year’s final, when she said she was “not brave enough” in a three-set defeat to Madison Keys.
“I cannot believe that,” Sabalenka said after securing another final appearance in Melbourne. “It is an incredible achievement, but the job is not done yet.”
Svitolina entered the match having lost her previous five meetings with Sabalenka, and the trend continued. Sabalenka’s statistics underlined her dominance: 29 winners, just 15 unforced errors, and only 11 points dropped on serve. Equally striking was her improved emotional control.
Known for her animated presence on court, Sabalenka struggled with her emotions in last year’s Australian Open and French Open finals. This time, she showed greater composure, even after a contentious moment early in the match.
With Svitolina serving at 2-1 in the opening set, chair umpire Louise Azemar Engzell called Sabalenka for hindrance, ruling that her grunt during a rally interfered with her opponent. The point was awarded to Svitolina, and although Sabalenka requested a video review, the decision stood because audio could not be assessed.
Visibly frustrated, Sabalenka responded with a sarcastic thumbs-down toward the umpire and brief comments to her team, but she quickly refocused. She broke Svitolina’s serve soon after and won four of the next five games to claim the first set.
A poor opening service game in the second set handed Svitolina an early break, prompting another flash of irritation from Sabalenka. However, she immediately broke back, saved a further break point while moving ahead 5-2, and sealed victory with a clean winner, underlining both her authority and her growing mental resilience.
By Nijat Babayev
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