Aryna Sabalenkova, right, of Belarus walks past Elina Svitolina of Ukraine during their semifinal match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (AP Photo) Belarusian world number one Aryna Sabalenkova defeated Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina 6:2, 6:3 in the semi-finals of the Australian Open on Thursday, setting up a fight for the title with Elena Rybakina.There was no handshake after the match, in keeping with protocol involving Ukrainian players and opponents from Russia or Belarus. Before the game at Rod Laver Arena, fans were informed that there would be no handshakes and asked to respect the decision. Sabalenka and Svitolina remained separated even during pre-match formalities and photo shoots.
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Sabalenkova advanced to her fourth consecutive Australian Open final and is chasing her third title in Melbourne. She didn’t lose a set at the Australian Open this year.Sabalenka and fifth seed Rybakina have already met 14 times, with Sabalenka winning eight matches. One of those wins came in the 2023 Australian Open final, where Sabalenka won in three sets.After the match, Sabalenka spoke about the win and praised her opponent.“I am very happy with the victory, she is a really tough opponent, she played really incredible tennis all week,” Sabalenka said.There was a delay early in the match when Sabalenka was given a grunt stop during the fourth game. The decision led to a video review and boos from the crowd. Sabalenkova lost a point but regained control and broke serve early in the second set to close out the match.Svitolina said events in Ukraine put the result into perspective.“People in Ukraine really live terrible and scary lives, so I shouldn’t be allowed to be really sad because I’m a very, very happy person,” the 31-year-old said.In the other semifinal, Rybakina defeated sixth seed Jessica Pegula of the United States 6-3, 7-6 (9/7). The match lasted one hour and 40 minutes. Rybakina did not drop a set in the tournament and earlier defeated second seed Igu Swiatek in the quarterfinals.
