Elena Rybakina has become the first player representing Kazakhstan to reach an Australian Open final after ousting an erratic Victoria Azarenka in straight sets.
The 22nd seed also overcame some patchy play of her own before defeating the two-time champion 7-6(4), 6-3, in what was a tense encounter that featured numerous changes of momentum. It is the third time in a row Rybakina has beaten a former Grand Slam winner at Melbourne Park following her wins over Iga Swiatek and Jelena Ostapenko earlier in the tournament. In her latest match against Azarenka, who is the fourth oldest woman to contest an Australian Open semi-final match in the Open Era, she hit a total of nine aces and 30 winners.
“I am super happy and proud of my team also, without them it would be difficult to be here,” Rybakina said during her on-court interview. “It is an incredible atmosphere and I am super happy to be in the finals and play one last time here.’
Coming into the semi-final, 53% of Rybakina’s serves had been unreturned which was the highest amount among both women and men in this year’s tournament. However, the Kazakh was involved in a tussle with Azarenka throughout a roller-coaster opener which saw four breaks of serve.
Rybakina was the first to drop serve after an Azarenka volley at the net enabled the Belarussian to move ahead 3-2. Then she turned her fortunes around with a three-game winning streak to put her on the verge of clinching the set. At 5-4, Rybakina earned her first set point but was denied by a blistering forehand winner down the line from her opponent.
Besides contending Azarenka’s powerful hitting, Rybakina also at times struggled for consistency in her shot-making and produced an array of errors. Much to the displeasure of her highly animated coach, Stefano Vukov, who wasn’t afraid to display his reactions to her play whilst watching from the stands. Battling on, the world No.25 recovered from a 0-40 deficit at 5-5 before taking proceedings into a tiebreak. Ironically this was when it was Azarenka’s turn to falter as she hit back-to-back unforced errors to hand Rybakina the opening set after exactly an hour of play.
The tense opener frazzled Azarenka whose level of tennis dropped dramatically in the second frame where she won just two out of 15 points behind her second serve and hit 14 unforced errors. Weathering the storm, Rybakina charged to a game away from victory before nerves struck her as she got broken whilst leading 5-2. However, she prevailed in the following game after an Azarenka backhand error on match point sealed her victory.
“Of course, my team were nervous because they want me to perform well. It was tough for me, difficult conditions. I could not play so aggressively but I am happy that in the end I managed to win,” said the world No.25.
“I will try my best in the final of course.”
Among those watching in the crowd were members of the Original 9 who help start the move for a professional women’s circuit in pursuit of equal rights in tennis more than half a century ago. Billie Jean King, who is a co-founder of the WTA, belongs to the group. Other members are Rosie Casals, Peaches Bartkowicz, Julie Heldman, Kristy Pigeon, Nancy Richey, Valerie Ziegenfuss, Judy Dalton and Kerry Melville Reid. The group attended a special presentation in their honour earlier in the day.
“It was really special and nervous to play in front of them. I want to say a big thank you from the players because it is unbelievable what you have done for us and the new generation. It means a lot,” Rybakina said in her own tribute.
“I got a lot of experience from Wimbledon. I want to come on court to enjoy the moment and atmosphere. It is incredible to play in front of you guys so thank you so much. I will fight and hopefully I will win.”
Rybakina’s latest win has put her on the brink of breaking into the WTA top 10 for the first time. She will achieve the milestone if Magda Linette loses her semi-final match against Aryna Sabalenka.
