Elena Rybakina reached her first Australian Open semifinal in three years after beating world No. 2 Iga Swiatek 7-5, 6-1 on Wednesday. The fifth-seeded Kazakh pulled away in the 1-hour and 35-minute win, securing eight of the last nine games to level her all-time record against the Pole at 6-6. She will meet either Jessica Pegula or Amanda Anisimova to reach Saturday’s final.
Rybakina had a nervy start to the quarterfinal clash as her biggest weapon, her serve, showed signs of struggle. The 2023 Melbourne finalist was broken in the opening game and then found herself 0-40 down at 1-1 on serve, but she rounded into form in stunning fashion in the latter half of the set despite landing just 49 per cent of her first serves. In the second set, Rybakina raced to a 3-0 lead, and when two straight aces made it 4-1, there was no way back for the Pole.
The 2022 Wimbledon champion struck 26 winners, including 11 aces, and committed just 19 unforced errors, only five of them in the second set. Swiatek, on the other hand, struggled for consistency, managing just 10 winners and committing 25 unforced errors.
This was Rybakina’s 18th win in her last 19 matches since October, a run that includes eight consecutive victories over top-10 opponents.
The 26-year-old is into her fourth career Grand Slam semifinal and her first since Wimbledon 2024.
“Really pleased with the win,” she said. “We know each other pretty well and I was just trying to stay aggressive. In the first set, for both of us, the first serve wasn’t really working, so it was about stepping in on the second serve and putting pressure on each other. In the second set, I started to play more freely and served better.”
The defeat denied Swiatek a shot at a career Grand Slam. She has won four French Open titles, along with the US Open and Wimbledon, but the Australian Open crown remains elusive.
