Elena Rybakina powers past Iga Swiatek to reach Australian Open semi-finals
By Eleanor Crooks, Press Association Sport Correspondent, Melbourne
Elena Rybakina continued her dominant form to end Iga Swiatek’s hopes of a first Australian Open title.
Like Carlos Alcaraz, Swiatek only needs this trophy to complete the career Grand Slam, but she was unable to match the Spaniard by reaching the semi-finals.
Although Swiatek was the higher seed, this hardly qualified as a shock, with Rybakina having returned to top form at the end of last season by winning the WTA Finals, while she also won their only previous meeting at Melbourne Park.
The fifth seed went into the tournament as one of the big favourites and is yet to drop a set, with her 7-5 6-1 victory over Swiatek making it eight straight wins over top-10 opponents.
Rybakina’s biggest weapon is her serve and she sent down 11 aces, with her improved first-serve percentage making the difference after a tight first set.
Rybakina will now take on American Jessica Pegula, aiming to reach her second Australian Open final after losing to Aryna Sabalenka in 2023.
“I’m really happy with the win, and happy that it was in straight sets,” said Rybakina. “I was a bit struggling in the first set with the serve but, overall, happy that I managed to win in two.
“I think last season the last couple of tournaments I played I gained some confidence throughout tough matches. Of course, this is something I tried to carry to this year.
“Still a lot of things to improve, to work on, but the most important is that I’m trying to stay aggressive whenever I get the chance to step in, maybe risk a little bit.”
For Swiatek, this defeat follows losses to Coco Gauff and Belinda Bencic at the United Cup, with the Pole having won only one of her last seven meetings with top-10 rivals.
“I’m not happy with the result,” said the 24-year-old. “It was a high-intensity match. First set was tight, a few points made the difference.
Pegula came to play and WIN ð¤©
First #AusOpen semifinal for the American!@wwos • @espn • @tntsports • @wowowtennis • #AO26 pic.twitter.com/T9Bkl4ThmG— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 28, 2026
“In the second set, for sure, she improved the serve. She was going for the shots, and it got much tougher.
“I know what I need to improve, and it’s kind of the same stuff that I had in my mind before the tournament as well. So there’s no breakthrough lesson.
“I’m just going to keep doing my job, and hopefully the next tournament I’ll get some stuff settled in terms of what I wanted to do with my game.”
In the second semi-final, Pegula maintained her unbeaten record against Amanda Anisimova to emulate Elina Svitolina by making her first semi-final here at the age of 31.
Pegula’s steady arc of progress has been one of the most impressive stories in the women’s game, with the American finally winning a grand slam quarter-final at the seventh time of asking at the US Open in 2024.
The last eight had been her ceiling here but, after knocking out defending champion and close friend Madison Keys in the fourth round, she defeated countrywoman Anisimova 6-2 7-6 (1).
Pegula had won all their three previous meetings and she fought back from 5-3 down in the second set to end Anisimova’s hopes of a third straight slam final appearance.
“When you feel like you have more in the tool shed when you are out there and things aren’t going great, that is a lot of confidence right there,” said Pegula of the improvements she has made to her game.
“I’m just proud of myself of how I’ve been able to consistently still improve. I feel like the level (of the women’s game) is higher now than probably before when I was making some of those quarters.”
