Aryna Sabalenka continued her love affair with the Australian Open by disposing of Elina Svitolina in straight sets to reach her fourth consecutive final in Melbourne.
The world No.1 powered her way to a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Svitolina, who was on a 10-match winning streak and had beaten two top 10 players earlier in the tournament. Sabalenka has now won 22 consecutive hardcourt matches against players outside the top 10 on the Tour. It is the eighth time in her career that she has made it through to a major final.
Yet to drop a set in the tournament, the Belarusian fired 29 winners and won 69% of her first service points. She is only the third woman in the Open Era to reach seven consecutive singles finals at major events on hard court, after Steffi Graf and Martina Hingis.
“I cannot believe that, that’s an incredible achievement,” Sabalenka said of reaching the final without dropping a set.
“But the job is not done yet. I’m super happy with the win.”
Taking to the court, Sabalenka’s biggest test of the first set was at the very start when she had to fend off a duo of break points in the opening game. Then, as the match progressed, she gradually tightened her grip on proceedings with the use of her powerful ball striking and ability to punish Svitolina’s second serve.
There was drama in the fourth game when the top seed was locked in an argument with umpire Louise Azemar Engzell after losing a point due to making a grunt that the official deemed as a hindrance. A video replay was requested, but it failed to reverse the penalty.
“On the video, you go, ‘ah ah-ya!’ Engzell told Sabalenka.
“It’s a hindrance to me because you didn’t make the normal sound,” Engzell told Sabalenka.” She later added.
In that same game, Sabalenka broke for the first time before going on to close the first set in just over 40 minutes, doing so by hitting a clean backhand winner past her opponent.
Svitolina finally broke through in the second frame, where she took advantage of a lacklustre Sabalenka service game to secure an early break en route to a 2-0 lead. However, the Ukrainian’s momentum swiftly disappeared with the former champion responding by winning eight out of the next nine points to draw level.
Closing in on her 34th career win at the Australian Open, which coincidentally is the same number as Svitolina, Sabalenka eased her way to two match points with a serve down the line before sealing victory with a forehand winner.
“She’s such a tough opponent and she was playing really incredible tennis throughout the whole week,” Sabalenka said of Svitolina’s game.
“I’m super happy to be through this tough match. I’ve been watching her game. She was playing incredibly against Mirra (Andreeva) and against Coco (Gauff) throughout the tournament.
“I felt like I had to step in and put as much pressure as I could back on her. I’m glad that the level was there today.”
Sabalenka will play either Elena Rybakina or Jessica Pegula in the final. She currently has a winning head-to-head record against both players. As for her preparation for the showdown, the 27-year-old plans a combination of relaxation and work.
“A little bit of a hit and then Netflix. Maybe dinner with the team and then I’m ready to go.” She said of her Friday plans.
