Elena Rybakina beats Victoria Azarenka to reach Australian Open final
What's the story
Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, reached her second Grand Slam final, after beating Victoria Azarenka in the Australian Open semi-finals.
Seeded number 22 in Melbourne, Rybakina claimed a 7-6(4), 6-3 win after an hour and 41 minutes.
Rybakina, who featured in her first Australian Open semi-final, took on a major champion for the third successive match.
Here are the key stats.
Stats
Key stats from the match
Rybakina doled out an impressive nine aces versus Azarenka as the latter managed three aces.
Azarenka committed six double faults compared to her opponent's three.
Rybakina clocked 76% and 41% wins on the first and second serve respectively. She converted 5/11 break points.
Rybakina won a total of 78 points and 30 winners in the match.
Numbers
Rybakina reaches her second major semis
Rybakina now has a 10-3 win-loss record at the Australian Open. She has reached her second semi-final at Grand Slams, winning the 2022 Wimbledon crown.
Overall, she now has a 30-12 win-loss record at Slam events.
In terms of the H2H record, Rybakina now owns a 2-0 record over Azarenka.
The former won the first-ever match between the two at Indian Wells.
Feats
Rybakina attains these feats
As per Opta, Rybakina has become the first woman to defeat three former Grand Slam champions (Iga Swiatek, Jelena Ostapenko, and Victoria Azarenka) in an Australian Open edition since Jennifer Capriati in 2001 (Hingis, Davenport, and Seles).
She has dropped just one set en route to the Australian Open final.
Interestingly, Rybakina had dropped just one set till Wimbledon 2022 final as well.
Final
Sabalenka to face Rybakina
Rybakina will face fifth seed Aryna Sabalenka in the final.
The latter reached her first Grand Slam final after defeating Magda Linette. Sabalenka claimed a 7-6(1), 6-2 win after an hour and 33 minutes.
The 24-year-old has extended her winning streak to 10. Sabalenka has now won a career-best 20 consecutive sets.
Sabalenka won each of her 10 matches so far in straight sets.