Rybakina bests former world no. 1 Azarenka to reach Australian Open final
WTA
After her Wimbledon triumph in 2022, Elena Rybakina keeps proving her qualities in 2023, and this time, she will also receive points as a reward for her efforts.
The 23-year-old Kazakhstani player won the Wimbledon Championships last year, but she didn't receive any WTA points because of the association's decision following the tournament's ban on Russian and Belarusian players.
Rybakina, therefore, faced many hurdles since, as she wasn't ranked as high as she should have been, but that will change after the 2023 Australian Open.
Rybakina, who entered the first Grand Slam of the season as the 22nd seed, was a dominant player in all of her matches and also defeated World No. 1 Iga Swiatek along the way.
In the semi-finals, she took on former World No. 1, Victoria Azarenka. The Belarusian enjoyed a good tournament, but she lost to Rybakina last year in Indian Wells, and the 2022 Wimbledon champion surely wanted to follow up on that win.
In the first set, fans in the Rod Laver Arena saw multiple breaks. First, Azarenka went into a 3-2 lead, before her opponent won three consecutive games and had a set point to win the set when leading 5-3.
However, she couldn't use that, and neither could Azarenka use her three break points in the eleventh game, so a tie-break had to be decided. It was a proper rollercoaster of a set worthy of a Grand Slam semi-final.
Despite multiple mini-breaks, Rybakina proved to be a better player and won the tie-break 7-4, securing the first set. There was less drama in the second set.
Once again, there were plenty of break points, but this time, the Kazakhstani player had the majority of those. After an hour and 43 minutes, Rybakina won the match 7-6(4), 6-3 to book her first Australian Open final. She will play against Aryna Sabalenka or Magda Linette.
