Going fourth: Sabalenka bests Svitolina, on to another AO final - ESPN

MELBOURNE, Australia — Not even a point penalty for hindrance slowed Aryna Sabalenka's run to a fourth consecutive Australian Open final.

The top-ranked Sabalenka overpowered Elina Svitolina 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday night to move within one victory of a third Australian Open title in four years.

The Belarusian will play the winner of the second semifinal between sixth-seeded Jessica Pegula and fifth-seeded Elena Rybakina, who won Wimbledon in 2022 and was runner-up in Australia to Sabalenka in 2023.

All four players reached the semifinals without dropping a set — a first in Australia in 56 years — and Sabalenka and Svitolina were each on 10-match winning streaks to start the season after titles in warmup events.

Sabalenka kept both of her streaks alive. She hit 19 winners and broke Svitolina's serve twice in the first set. She finished with 29 winners to 12 for her Ukrainian rival.

As has become customary for Ukrainians against players from Russia and Belarus, there was no handshake at the net. There was also no group photo before the match.

Sabalenka is the third woman in the Open era to reach four consecutive singles finals at the Australian Open after Evonne Goolagong and Martina Hingis.

«It's an incredible achievement, but the job's not done yet,» an emotional Sabalenka said in her on-court TV interview. «I've been watching her game. [Svitolina] was playing incredible. I felt like I had to step in and put as much pressure as I could back on her. I'm glad the level was there. I think I played great tennis.»

The only hiccup was at the start of the fourth game. Hindrance is called for a distraction that prevents a player from making a shot and can include an opponent's loud noise.

Umpire Louise Azemar Engzell deemed