Aryna Sabalenka insisted the “job is not done yet” after powering past Elena Svitolina and into her fourth successive Australian Open final.
The Belarusian will face Elena Rybakina in Saturday’s showpiece in a rematch of their memorable 2023 clash which Sabalenka won in three absorbing sets to clinch the first of two Melbourne crowns.
Rybakina cruised past the challenge of American Jessica Pegula in her semi, winning 6-3 7-6 (9/7).
The Kazakh is one of the few players on tour that can match Sabalenka’s power and the number one seed knows it will be a difficult test.
“I think her shots are heavy deep, flat balls. It’s not easy to work with, but yeah, we have a great history, she’s an incredible player,” Sabalenka said following her 6-2 6-3 win completed in just 76 minutes.
“We had a lot of great battles, a lot of finals we played. I’m looking forward to battling this power.”
Sabalenka focused on the final
Sabalenka will go in as the favourite after an impressive display against Svitolina, who had seen off Coco Gauff and Mirra Andreeva en route to the last four.
“An incredible achievement [in reaching the final], but the job’s not done yet,” added Sabalenka.
“Super happy with the win, she’s such a tough opponent, was playing really incredible tennis throughout the whole week and just super happy to be through this tough match.
“I’ve been watching her game, she was playing incredible against Mirra, against Coco, overall throughout the tournament.
“I felt like I had to step in and put as much pressure as I could back on her, and I’m glad that the level was there today. I played great tennis and happy to get the win in straight sets.”
Rybakina won the most recent encounter with Sabalenka in the title match at the WTA Finals and won’t be overawed after a run of one defeat in 20 matches.
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