Sabalenka into fourth straight Australian Open final and facing Rybakina again

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Not even a point penalty for hindrance slowed Aryna Sabalenka's run to a fourth consecutive Australian Open final. The top-ranked Sabalenka overpowered Elina Svitolina 6-2, 6-3 Thursday night to move within one victory of a third Australian Open title in four years. A rematch of the 2023 final against Elena Rybakina was set up when the No. 5 seed ousted No. 6 Jessica Pegula 6-3, 7-6 (7) in the second semifinal. Her semifinal was mostly one way until Rybakina had match point. The 2022 Wimbledon champion missed three match points on Pegula's serve and then was broken twice while serving for the match. Pegula rallied and had two set points in the tiebreaker but wasn't able to convert, and Rybakina finally clinched it 29 minutes after her first match point. "Really, really stressful," Rybakina said. She admitted to flashbacks from the 2024 Open when she lost the longest women's tiebreaker ever at a Grand Slam to Anna Blinkova 22-20 in a three-set defeat. "I'm proud no matter the situation. It got very tight, I stayed there," she said of the win over Pegula. "I was fighting for each point." For Pegula, it became a matter of swing or miss out. "Sometimes when you're on the brink of losing everything you get a little clarity because you're kind of just like, 'Screw it, I'm just going to try and stay in this,'" she said. "I played a couple of really good points to save the match points, and, you know, she missed a couple short balls ... a couple free points to take some pressure off." All four players reached the semifinals without dropping a set — in Australia for the first time in 56 years — and Sabalenka and Svitolina were each on 10-match winning streaks to start the season after titles in warmup events. Sabalenka kept both of her streaks alive. As has become customary for Ukrainians against players from Russia and Belarus, there was no handshakes at the net. There was also no group photo before the match. Sabalenka is the third woman in the Open era to reach four consecutive singles finals at the Australian Open after Evonne Goolagong Cawley and Martina Hingis. "It's an incredible achievement but the job's not done yet," an emotional Sabalenka said in her on-court TV interview. "I've been watching her game, (Svitolina) was playing incredible. I felt like I had to step in and put as much pressure as I could back on her. I'm glad the level was there. I think I played great tennis." The hindrance call The only hiccup was the hindrance to start the fourth game. Hindrance is called for a distraction that prevents a player from making a shot, and can include an opponent's loud noise. Umpire Louise Azemar Engzell deemed Sabalenka made a prolonged grunt after she shanked a forehand. The shot seemed to be going long but landed inside the baseline, giving Svitolina the chance to play on. That's when the umpire intervened. Sabalenka asked for a video review but, after going to the tape, Azemar Engzell confirmed her decision that the grunt was more elongated than usual. "That's actually never happened to me ... especially with my grunting," Sabalenka said. "Then she called it, and I was, like, 'What? What is wrong with you?'" Sabalenka said it worked as motivation — she broke serve in that game. "It actually helped me — I was more aggressive. I was not happy with the call, and it really helped me to get that game," Sabalenka said. She added with a laugh, "So if she (Azemar Engzell) ever wants to do it again — like, I want to make sure that she's not afraid of it — go ahead, call it. It's going to help me." Rematch Rybakina is back into a major final for the first time since '23, and says she learned a lot from that match. She's also coming off a win over Sabalenka in the deciding match of the WTA Finals last November, when she picked up a record $5.2 million in prize money. "I could take only positive from that week," she said. "This is what I'm trying to do ... remembering some good stuff from this WTA Final." Svitolina's exit After reaching her first semifinal in Australia and winning a title in a warmup tournament in New Zealand, Svitolina will return to the top 10 for the first time since she took a maternity break in 2022. The Auckland title was her first foray back on tour after an early end to the 2025 season for a mental health break. She said the rest and time out prolonged her career. "Definitely very, very happy with the two weeks here and in New Zealand, as well, winning," she said. "Gutted to not make it through tonight but it's very difficult when you're playing the world No. 1, who is really on fire." "It was really complicated for me today," she added, "but, yeah, I just want to take positives from the past weeks and just carry them through for the season."