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The first victory is Sabalenka\u2019s: the world No 1 wins the toss and doesn\u2019t even hesitate in opting to serve first. A message of intent from the off.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n Here the players come, navigating their way through the backstage tunnel, which has been souped-up this year and is more like a discombobulating hall of mirrors. They pass the pre-match test by finding their way through and emerging unscathed. Actually, Sabalenka doesn\u2019t only emerge unscathed, she absolutely strided through. She looks in the zone already.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The roof on Rod Laver Arena is closed because of rain. Rybakina\u2019s face hardly ever betrays any emotions, but she\u2019s likely to be happy, because she won their most recent meeting indoors, at the WTA Finals in November for her biggest title since Wimbledon in 2022.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n If you\u2019d like to get in touch with any predictions and musings you can do so here<\/a>. It\u2019s always good to get the chat going.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n And this from Krishna Moorthy: \u201cUnlike you I am yet to have any breakfast and just a coffee that triggered my brain to do some anagrams and Elena Rybakina turned into \u201cBreak Any Alien\u201d. If aliens do not stand a chance I can safely assume that Aryna does not either. Predicting this AO has been pretty risky (Alcaraz pulling off a miracle, Djoker getting a walkover and then performing his favourite Houdini act…) and an anagram is as good as any measured guess.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cHi Katy, hope you\u2019ve recovered from yesterday\u2019s Shakespearean epics, full of plot twists and turns,\u201d emails Jeremy Boyce. \u201cIf today\u2019s final lives up to the level and drama of those matches the crowd will be in for a treat. And possibly wishing that the women played five sets too. No pressure then. Whatever the outcome let\u2019s hope neither of the combatants ends up feeling like an animal in the zoo<\/a> and that any racket smashing is tolerated in the same way as grunting and other expressions of passion and effort.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Rybakina says:<\/p>\n Last match we played here [in the 2023 final], it was very close. Throughout the match I had some little opportunities, but in the end of this third set, Aryna stepped in. She deserved that win.<\/p>\n Of course many years passed, a lot of matches has been played. Hopefully with all the experience which I got from this last match, last time final I played here, I can bring it to Saturday\u2019s match and do my best, focus on my serve, of course. Since we are both very aggressive players, serve is important. Hopefully this time it\u2019s gonna go my way.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Sabalenka says:<\/p>\n Her shots are heavy, deep, flat balls. It\u2019s not easy to work with, but we have a great history. She\u2019s incredible player. We had a lot of great battles, a lot of finals we played. I\u2019m looking forward to [battling] this power.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Rybakina Share<\/a><\/p>\n Sabalenka Share<\/a><\/p>\n Road to the final. Both have generated dangerous momentum as the tournament has progressed and are yet to drop a set. Sabalenka turned into something of a teen hunter to halt the breakthrough runs of Victoria Mboko and Iva Jovic, before brutally ending the 31-year-old Elina Svitolina\u2019s hopes of a first slam title in the last four. But while Sabalenka\u2019s level has been eye-catching, Rybakina has had the tougher route to this final, and has defeated two top-six players in Iga Swiatek and Jessica Pegula. And when Rybakina gets on a roll, it\u2019s very hard to stop her.<\/p>\n Jennifer Capriati presents the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup before the final. Photograph: Darrian Traynor\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a003.34 EST<\/p>\n Tale of the tape Share<\/a><\/p>\n And a lovely gallery of the best images from week two as well:<\/p>\n Elena Rybakina during her semi-final against Jessica Pegula. Photograph: Joel Carrett\/EPAShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a003.19 EST<\/p>\n Meanwhile, I\u2019ve just eaten far too many overnight oats for breakfast (I thought I better fuel up in case this goes the distance \u2013 I was underprepared for Djokovic v Sinner yesterday) and am feeling a little sleepy. So here\u2019s Tumaini\u2019s preview until I wake myself up:<\/p>\n At the end of yet another semi-final in Melbourne on Thursday night, Aryna Sabalenka slammed the door shut on Elina Svitolina with a searing forehand winner, her 29th of the night. It was another near flawless performance<\/a> from the Belarusian, another match she dominated from start to finish without any response, reinforcing her status as the leading hard court player of her generation.<\/p>\n Six matches in, Sabalenka\u2019s fourth consecutive run to the Australian Open<\/a> final has proved one of her most impressive. She is yet to drop a set and has shown how much her game has evolved by also dominating the net and peppering opponents with an array of drop shots. The few times she has been pushed, such as in her third round match against Anastasia Potapova, the world No 1 has produced her best tennis in the decisive moments and been in control of the baseline throughout.<\/p>\n A completely different match-up awaits Sabalenka on Saturday as she faces Elena Rybakina, the fifth seed and one of her toughest rivals, for her fifth grand slam title. While their career achievements reflect the fact that Sabalenka is more rounded, a better mover and returner with greater variation and consistency, Rybakina is one of the only players capable of tearing the racket from Sabalenka\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n This was the case just three months ago at the end-of-season finals in Riyadh, where Rybakina closed out a spectacular 6-3, 7-6 (0) win over Sabalenka<\/a> to clinch the second biggest title of her career behind her Wimbledon crown<\/a>. At the end of the match, after the Kazakhstani bulldozed through the second set tie-break without dropping a point, an inconsolable Sabalenka was captured on video venting to her team: \u201cOnce a year, even a stick shoots,\u201d she said of Rybakina\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n Rybakina is not nearly as erratic as Sabalenka suggested, but her title run in Riyadh had come after many false starts. Until a few weeks before the finals, Rybakina was not even in a qualifying spot as one of the top eight players. Her late surge in Asia to reach the event increasingly looks like one of the more significant moments of her career. She has continued the momentum she built in Riyadh, also reaching this final in Melbourne without dropping a set. While Sabalenka\u2019s level has been astounding, there is no doubt that Rybakina has had the tougher path to the final, defeating two top players in the world No 2, Iga Swiatek<\/a>, and Jessica Pegula<\/a>, the No 6.<\/p>\n You can read the rest here:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a003.14 EST<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Already today, Britain\u2019s Neal Skupski and his American partner Christian Harrison have claimed the men\u2019s doubles title in their first slam together. Skupski \u2013 who also triumphed at Wimbledon in 2023 \u2013 and Harrison beat the Australians Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans 7-6, 6-4. It continues Britain\u2019s recent advances in men\u2019s doubles \u2013 it\u2019s the third time in the past five majors that one British player has triumphed in the event and there are no less than five players currently in the world\u2019s top 10 \u2013 and we can only hope that some of that success will extend into the singles in the future too. Having Jack Draper back fit and healthy would help; he could return after five months out injured in Britain\u2019s Davis Cup tie against Norway next week.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Preamble<\/p>\n G\u2019day everyone! After this tournament suddenly and belatedly exploded into life yesterday with two men\u2019s semi-finals for the ages, today we could have another blockbuster as Aryna Sabalenka<\/a> and Elena Rybakina face each other for the women\u2019s title, in a repeat of the 2023 final.<\/p>\n Sabalenka came from a set down then to win her first grand slam<\/a>, and has gone on to not only become a four-time major champion and undisputed world No 1 but accumulate serious numbers on hard courts that have surpassed even some of Serena\u2019s stats. This is Sabalenka\u2019s seventh consecutive major final on the surface \u2013 something matched only by Martina Hingis and Steffi Graf in the open era \u2013 and victory would secure her third Australian Open title in four years. She\u2019s the female version of Jannik Sinner on hard courts \u2013 well, Sinner before he lost to Novak Djokovic<\/a>.<\/p>\n But Rybakina, when she\u2019s on her game, is capable of taking the racket out of anyone\u2019s hands, Sabalenka included. After injury, illness and the suspension of her coach, the 2022 Wimbledon champion is playing some of her best tennis in three years, underlined by her statement victory over Sabalenka<\/a> nearly three months ago to win the season-ending WTA Finals.<\/p>\n Rybakina may be the world No 5 but these are the best two players in the world right now, who have shown they can bring out the best in each other on the biggest stages. Despite the variation Sabalenka has added to her game, this will essentially be power vs power and first-strike tennis to take the breath away, with the contrast in personalities between the heart-on-her-sleeve Belarusian Sabalenka and clinically composed Russian-born Kazakhstani Rybakina making this all the more absorbing.<\/p>\n The players will arrive on court at about: 7.30pm Melbourne time\/8.30am GMT. Don\u2019t go anywhere!<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
First round def Kaja Juvan 6-4, 6-3
Second round def Varvara Gracheva 7-5, 6-2
Third round def Tereza Valentova 6-2, 6-3
Fourth round def Elise Mertens (21) 6-1, 6-3
Quarter-final def Iga Swiatek (2) 7-5, 6-1
Semi-final def Jessica Pegula (6) 6-3, 7-6<\/p>\n
First round def Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah 6-4, 6-1
Second round def Bai Zhuoxuan 6-3, 6-1
Third round def Anastasia Potapova 7-6, 7-6
Fourth round def Victoria Mboko (17) 6-1, 7-6
Quarter-final def Iva Jovic (29) 6-3, 6-0
Semi-final def Elina Svitolina (12) 6-2, 6-3<\/p>\n
Sabalenka \u2013 Rybakina
27 Age 26
1 Seeding 5
1 World ranking 5
4 Grand slam titles 1
8 Grand slam finals 3
22 Singles titles 11
8 Head-to-head 6<\/p>\n