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Rybakina through to first Australian Open final

Wimbledon champion Rybakina will next meet fifth-seeded Belarusian Sabalenka or unseeded Linette.

Ian Ransom (Reuters) (The Jakarta Post)

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Melbourne, Australia

Fri, January 27, 2023

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Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina in action during her Australian Open semifinal match against Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka at Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, on January 26, 2023. Rybakina beat Azarenka 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 to reach final.

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lena Rybakina stormed to her first Australian Open final with a 7-6(4), 6-3 win over Victoria Azarenka on Thursday, wearing the twice champion down in a cagey first set before dominating to close out the match.

Wimbledon champion Rybakina will next meet fifth-seeded Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka or unseeded Pole Magda Linette, who play in the second semi-final of the night session at Rod Laver Arena.

In a match of wild momentum swings, Rybakina held her nerve as the 24th-seeded Belarusian Azarenka foundered in a messy first set tiebreak then dropped serve twice to fall 5-2 behind in the second set.

The 22nd-seeded Rybakina was broken as she served for the set but Azarenka double-faulted to concede three match points in the next game, allowing the Kazakh to close out an emphatic win.

"I'm super happy and proud. Without my team it would be difficult to be here so thanks a lot to them," Moscow-born Rybakina, Kazakhstan's first Grand Slam champion, said on court.

"It was an incredible atmosphere and I'm super happy to be in the final and play again here.

"It was difficult conditions, I couldn't play offensive tennis but I'm happy I managed to win."