Sabalenka, Rybakina march into Australian Open final showdown

MELBOURNE: Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina will clash in Saturday’s Australian Open women’s final after both won in straight sets in the last four in Melbourne. Wimbledon champion Rybakina defeated two-time Melbourne winner Victoria Azarenka 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 at a blustery and chilly Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne on Thursday. Belarusian Sabalenka then marched into the championship match with a 7-6 (7/1), 6-2 win over Magda Linette.

The 24-year-old Sabalenka will be a slight favorite to win the title, for what would be her first major crown, and promises to be a bruising showdown between two hard-hitters. “I’m super happy, super happy that I was able to get this win,” said the fifth seed after reaching her first Grand Slam final. “Magda’s an unbelievable player.

She played really great tennis.” Sabalenka has been in the form of her life since arriving in Australia. She won the Adelaide International warm-up tournament and has now extended her unbeaten streak to 10 matches, not losing a single set in any of them. But it was Poland’s Linette, contesting her first major semifinal aged 30, who was out of the gate fastest, breaking to love in the opening game and holding for an early lead.

Sabalenka was being made to work hard and showed all her new-found patience to get back on terms with a break of her own, to love, for 2-2 and the set went to a tiebreak. Sabalenka timed her moment perfectly to up the aggression, and the decibel level, racing to 4-0 with a scream. An ace that barely clipped the line stretched it to 5-0 and she closed out comfortably after 51 minutes, having smacked 20 winners to just seven from Linette.