Aryna Sabalenka is in very familiar territory after reaching her fourth successive semifinal at the Australian Open, but what’s not familiar are her rivals left in the draw, including her last-four opponent Elina Svitolina.<\/p>\n
Sabalenka has a third title at Melbourne Park in sight after sweeping past US teen prodigy Iva Jovic 6-3, 6-0 while Svitolina made similar short work of Coco Gauff.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With a politically-charged setting, there’s no love lost between Sabalenka and outspoken Ukrainian Svitolina, who has pointedly refused to shake hands post-match with Russian or Belarusian opponents, including the world number one.<\/p>\n
World number five Elena Rybakina was last in the Open semifinals in 2023 and has been joined by number six Jessica Pegula, with the pair also squaring off tonight.<\/p>\n
More from the Australian Open<\/p>\n
But the tournament has lost the usual grand slam heavyweights in Iga \u015awi\u0105tek, Gauff and Amanda Anisimova.<\/p>\n
Those three players \u2014 ranked two to four \u2014 were forced to pack their bags after all suffering quarterfinal losses.<\/p>\n
Madison Keys, who shocked Sabalenka in last year’s final to end her hat-trick run of titles, is also out after falling to Pegula in the fourth round.<\/p>\n
The loss to Keys was Sabalenka’s only reverse in her past 26 matches at Melbourne Park, including titles in 2023 and 2024. A third trophy would also move her to five majors.<\/p>\n
That would draw her level with Martina Hingis and Maria Sharapova on the all\u2011time winners’ list.<\/p>\n
The Belarusian world number one said she didn’t think about her stunning consistency when she was in the midst of a tournament.<\/p>\n
“When I’m in the tournament, I’m not thinking about that, but sometimes we all stop for a second and we think the level we’re able to reach, it sounds really incredible and tough to believe,” the 27-year-old said.<\/p>\n
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