Aryna Sabalenka powers to fourth straight Australian Open final

Aryna Sabalenka defeated Elina Svitolina to reach her fourth consecutive Australian Open final.

The world number one won back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024 before losing a thriller to Madison Keys last year and she continued her excellent form in Melbourne with a 6-2 6-3 victory against Svitolina.

The Ukrainian was playing in her maiden semi-final here at the age of 31 and she will return to the top 10 next week for the first time since before the birth of daughter Skai in 2022, but she was overpowered by Sabalenka.

Continuing the stance of Ukrainian players since the invasion of their country four years ago not to shake hands with Russian or Belarusian players, Svitolina did not acknowledge Sabalenka at the end of the match, quickly walking off court after a final winner had flown past her.

FOUR-MIDABLE