SABALENKA REACHES FOURTH CONSECUTIVE AUSTRALIAN OPEN FINAL, SET TO FACE RYBAKINA AGAIN. (PHOTO).

 Sabalenka reaches fourth consecutive Australian Open final, set to face Rybakina again

 Not even a point penalty for hindrance slowed Aryna Sabalenka as she advanced to her fourth consecutive Australian Open final.

The world No. 1 overpowered Elina Svitolina 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday, moving within one win of a third Australian Open title in four years. Sabalenka will face a rematch of the 2023 final against Elena Rybakina, who defeated No. 6 seed Jessica Pegula 6-3, 7-6 (7) in the other semifinal.

Rybakina’s semifinal was tense until the end. She missed three match points on Pegula’s serve and was broken twice while serving for the match. Pegula had two set points in the tiebreaker but could not convert, and Rybakina finally sealed the victory 29 minutes after her first match point. “Really, really stressful,” Rybakina said, recalling the mental challenge of holding off Pegula.

Sabalenka’s win over Svitolina was more straightforward. She hit 29 winners to 12 for her Ukrainian opponent, breaking serve twice in the opening set and keeping her 10-match winning streak alive. As has become customary in matches between Ukrainians and players from Russia or Belarus, there were no handshakes at the net or group photos before the match.

Sabalenka became only the third woman in the Open era to reach four consecutive Australian Open singles finals, joining Evonne Goolagong and Martina Hingis. “It’s an incredible achievement, but the job’s not done yet,” she said. She added that the level of pressure she put on Svitolina helped her play her best tennis.

Her only hiccup came in the fourth game when umpire Louise Azemar Engzell called a hindrance on Sabalenka for a prolonged grunt after a forehand shot. Sabalenka challenged the call, but the decision was upheld. She said the ruling motivated her to play more aggressively and break serve in that game. “It actually helped me,” she said, laughing.

Svitolina, reaching her first Australian Open semifinal since returning from maternity leave in 2022, will re-enter the top 10 after her performance. She praised her warm-up tournament win in Auckland and said the break helped extend her career. Despite the loss, Svitolina said she would carry the positives from the early season into the rest of the year.