Iga Swiatek won't win her first Grand Slam title in Australia, as she lost to the reigning Wimbledon champion, Elena Rybakina.
The name Swiatek or Rybakina is written next to the last three Grand Slam tournaments played on the WTA Tour. The Kazakh can now extend this streak, as she defeated world no. 1 in the fourth round of the 2023 Australian Open.
While Rybakina never got past the third round in Melbourne before, the world no. 1 was defending her points from last year's semifinal run. Before their meeting in the Rod Laver Arena, the two met only a month ago at an exhibition event in Dubai, and it was Rybakina who won that match.
Their fourth round meeting started better for the Kazakh. Swiatek had three game points in the first game and two break points in the second, but she couldn't win neither of the games and soon faced a 0-2 deficit.
Then, she managed to win 12 out of the following 14 points, to get the lead for the first and only time in the match, as she would then go on to be broken again and lose the first set 4-6 in 43 minutes.
Despite a confidence boost from the first set, Rybakina didn't start the second set well. She immediately lost her serve and was down 0-3 to the world no. 1.
However, the reigning Wimbledon champion showed her qualities, which are worth the Rod Laver Arena, and broke the young Pole two more times to win the match 6-4, 6-4 in 90 minutes and eliminate the world no. 1.
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