Reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, 23, is through to her second Grand Slam final with a 7-6(4) 6-3 victory over Victoria Azarenka in the semifinals of the 2023 Australian Open.
With her serve below par in the first set, the 22nd-seeded Rybakina fell a break down early on, but the Kazakh immediately charged back and won three consecutive games to serve for the set at 5-3. Despite missing this opportunity to take a one-set lead at that point, Rybakina played more aggressive tennis in the tiebreak and eventually sealed the opening set in 60 minutes.
It looked like we would have a close contest that could go to three sets, but the 2012-2013 Australian Open champion Azarenka lost steam and Rybakina pretty comfortably cruised through the second set, finishing the job on Azarenka’s serve as the Belarusian netted a backhand on the second match point she faced.
Rybakina’s last obstacle in Melbourne will be the winner of the upcoming semifinal between fifth seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus and surprise semifinalist Magda Linette of Poland.
