It was business as usual for world number one Aryna Sabalenkova as she ran amok against Elina Svitolina to win in straight sets to book her fourth successive Australian Open final on Thursday 29 January.
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It was fairly quick work for Belarus, who secured victory in just one hour and 16 minutes, winning 6-2, 6-3 at the Rod Laver Arena.
Tension on the rise
It wasn’t smooth sailing at first, considering the two ignored it the usual pre-match courtesies which are extended. Sabalenka started to take a pre-match photo with a child with a ball, but her opponent decided against it. This is primarily due to ongoing tensions in Ukraine and Belarus’ role in supporting Russia during the ongoing conflict between the two nations.
Sabalenko didn’t start as strong as she would have liked with two unforced errors. But she was able to return to her opponent with two break points on the opening serve.
Tensions rose again in the first set when Svitolina won the opening point of the fourth game in the first set when the presiding umpire deemed Sabalenka a disruptive opponent when she grunted during an exchange. Sabalenka even went to a video review, which did not overturn the decision.
Sabalenka got Hindrance for grunting ????
Horrible call, even Svitolina didn’t get it, and not even in the Grand Slam semifinals.
The referee needs to chill ffs
pic.twitter.com/3aeCPSa4yv— SK (@Djoko_UTD) January 29, 2026
But she was certainly fired up as Svitolina’s error secured her first break point and then Sabalenkova took the lead.
Svitolina was not swayed by Sabalenko’s complete dominance as she saved two set points in the beginning, but in the end the Belarusian took the first set.
In the second set, Sabalenkova struggled to start on a strong note, Svitolina earning her first break of the game after a poor backhand went well across the baseline.
Still, Sabalenkova didn’t falter there as she stepped up her game to win back a break point.
Things went more or less smoothly as Sabalenka won three games in a row thanks to her sheer ferocity.
Svitolina tried to defend but was unable to get back into the match. Sabalenkova showed her nerve to win with a clinical forehand.
Sabalenka joins the elite list
With her win over Svitolina, Sabalenka became the third Open Era player to reach four consecutive singles finals at the Australian Open. She joins Australian Evonne Goolagong, who appeared in seven consecutive finals between 1971 and 1977, and Swiss legend Martina Hingis, who was part of six back-to-back finals between 1997 and 2002.
For Sabalenkova, it is also the eighth Grand Slam final in her career. She now awaits the winner of the second semi-final between Elena Rybakina and Jessica Pegula, which starts later in the day. Sabalenkova is also a two-time winner of the Australian Open, having won the women’s singles title in 2023 and 2024. She will now aim to add a third title to her list of achievements.
– The end
Issued by:
Amar Panicker
Published on:
January 29, 2026
