Elena Rybakina beats third Grand Slam champion at Australian Open 2023, storms into final with victory over Victoria Azarenka
Elena Rybakina booked her spot in the final of the 2023 Australian Open with a commanding win against Victoria Azarenka, ending the Belarusian's bid for a third Grand Slam title on Thursday, January 26. Rybakina has now beaten her third straight Grand Slam champion in Melbourne, having previously beaten Iga Swiatek and Jelena Ostapenko in the fourth round and quarterfinals respectively.
When the World No. 24 (Azarenka) and No. 25 (Rybakina) clashed in the semifinals at the Rod Laver Arena, it was the youngster from Kazakhstan who managed to fight and overcome the two-time Australian Open winner's experience. Rybakina, who took the tennis world by surprise when she won last year's Wimbledon, beat the 33-year-old 7-6(4), 6-3 in one hour and 41 minutes.
The 22nd-seed Kazakh hit nine aces and three double faults, compared to Azarenka's three aces and six double faults. While Rybakina finished with 30 winners and 21 unforced errors, the Belarusian hit 26 winners and 27 unforced errors.
The first set lasted exactly an hour and was as close as it could get, with Azarenka getting the first break in the fifth game to lead 3-2. However, the 2022 Wimbledon champion broke back immediately to level things up. She moved to 5-3 with another break but failed to close the set as the Belarusian struck back and forced a tiebreak. The tiebreaker, however, went in favor of the youngster, thanks to a string of unforced errors from Azarenka.
Rybakina broke early in the second set, leading 2-1, and again in the seventh game to go 5-2 up. Once again, she was unable to close out the match, allowing Azarenka to break her for the third time. However, the 23-year-old broke her yet again at 5-3 to end the match and become the first finalist this year.
Rybakina ended up breaking her opponent's serve as many as five times over two sets. She awaits the winner of the second semifinal between Magda Linette of Poland and Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.
Elena Rybakina improves to 2-0 in head-to-head against Victoria Azarenka
Elena Rybakina's first tour-level meeting with Victoria Azarenka came in the third round of the 2022 Indian Wells as the Kazakh player won the match in straight sets (6-3, 6-4). With a win on Thursday, she improved her head-to-head against the Belarusian to 2-0.
The reigning Wimbledon champion was elated with herself in her on-court interview afterwards, remarking that she was "super happy" to be in the summit clash and hoped to go all the way on Saturday.
"I'm super happy and proud. Without my team, it would be difficult to be here," Elena Rybakina said in her on-court interview. "It's an incredible atmosphere and I'm super happy to be in the finals and play one more time here. Today was a bit tougher for me because of different conditions, I could not play really aggressive tennis. I just want to come on the court and enjoy the moment and the atmosphere. Hopefully, I'm going to win."