australian open 2023
What all seemed so different, so daunting, even, about trying to win a Grand Slam title to Elena Rybakina a little more than six months ago is now coming rather naturally.
And if she can win one more match, she will add a championship at the Australian Open to the one she collected at Wimbledon.
Rybakina, a 23-year-old who represents Kazakhstan, reached her second final in a span of three major tournaments by beating Victoria Azarenka 7-6 (4), 6-3 at Melbourne Park on Thursday, signaling a rapid rise toward the top of tennis.
“Everything was new at Wimbledon,” Rybakina said after hitting nine aces in the semifinals to raise her tournament-leading total to 44. “Now I more or less understand what to expect.”
That could come in handy Saturday. That is when she will face No. 5 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, who reached her first Grand Slam title match at age 24 by beating unseeded Magda Linette 7-6 (1), 6-2 in Thursday’s second semifinal.
Sabalenka improved to 10-0 in 2023 and has won all 20 sets she’s contested this season.
More importantly, the victory over Linette gave Sabalenka her first taste of success in a Slam semi after going 0-3 at that stage until now, losing each previous previous attempt by a 6-4 score in the third set.
Rybakina and Sabalenka employ a somewhat similar brand of tennis, relying on big serves and big hitting at the baseline. Sabalenka is far less cautious, though, and her penchant for high-risk, high-reward play was evident against Linette, who had never before been past the third round in 29 appearances at majors.
Sabalenka finished with a whopping 33-9 edge in winners, but also compiled more unforced errors than Linette.
The key to both semifinals, really, was a first-set tiebreaker. Azarenka lost the mark on her strokes, for the most part, making things smoother for Rybakina, while Sabalenka raced to a 6-0 lead in hers. It wasn’t the case that each and every shot Sabalenka hit landed right on a line, but it must have seemed that way to Linette.
Rybakina’s win over Azarenka, the champion at Melbourne Park in 2012 and 2013, added to what already was an impressive run through a string of top opponents. She also beat No. 1 Iga Swiatek and No. 17 Jelena Ostapenko — both owners of major titles and 2022 Australian Open runner-up Danielle Collins.
Rybakina delivered serves at up to 117 mph (189 kph) Thursday and stinging groundstrokes that she used to close points seemingly at will. Her performance was…
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