Australian Open: Elena Rybakina, the Wimbledon winner, maintained her ascent in Melbourne as she cruised into the Australian Open semifinals, where she will face Victoria Azarenka.
The match between Rybakina and Jelena Ostapenko on Rod Laver Arena featured first-strike tennis as could be expected between two of the best hitters on the women’s tour, but Rybakina was the more steady player, winning 6-2, 6-4.
With a convincing 6-4 6-1 victory over Jessica Pegula, two-time world champion Azarenka ended a 10-year absence from the semi-finals.
Although Rybakina’s victory at the All England Club came as a surprise, it would not be surprising if she closed the weekend by winning the trophy here, especially given the favourable playing conditions for flat hitters.
When she arrived in Australia, she commented, “I believe of course I had all the experience at Wimbledon and it’s helping me now that this time here in Australia and I know what to anticipate.”
“I’ve done it before, so of course I’m confident I can do it again. I prepared with the team pretty well. The outcomes don’t really surprise me. I’m content. I just want to practise harder and get better.”
Both had produced surprises in the previous round, with Ostapenko outlasting Coco Gauff and Rybakina overcoming world No. 1 Iga Swiatek.
The Latvian, who won the French Open in 2017, advanced to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal in over five years, but she committed far too many errors to put Rybakina under any significant strain.
The No. 1 seed from Kazakhstan, who is moving closer to the top-10 spot she would have held if Wimbledon had provided ranking points, broke serve to start the match and led 3-1 when the roof was closed due to a strong downpour.
Rybakina kept up her momentum after the break to win the first set and despite Ostapenko taking the second set with a 2-0 lead despite her repeated complaints about the automatic line calling’s accuracy.
The difference between them was mostly due to Rybakina’s serve, which produced 11 aces and was the greatest in the women’s game after Serena Williams’ retirement. Nearly three-quarters of the points were decided within four shots.
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