Aryna Sabalenka comfortably defeated Elina Svitolina to secure her place in the Australian Open final.
Sabalenka matched a Martina Hingis record as she dropped just five games in a dominant straight sets victory against her Ukrainian opponent.
Despite her semi-final exit, Svitolina enjoyed a terrific Australian Open campaign, which matched her best-ever run at a Grand Slam.
Svitolina revealed the main reason she lost the match against Sabalenka during her post-match press conference.
Elina Svitolina rues missed chances after Aryna Sabalenka defeat
The scoreline suggests a dominant victory, but Svitolina believes her semi-final match was actually much closer.
The Ukrainian broke Sabalenka several times, but she pinpointed one thing she did wrong on Rod Laver Arena.
“Well, I thought a little bit I could play better. I played good tennis. I wouldn’t say that the score shows what it was. I think I could still hold a couple times more on my serve,” she said.
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“The serve was not as good as I wanted to be, so I could put a bit more pressure on her, because I feel like when she was starting to serve each time of the set, she’s always, you know, ahead.
“Okay, I was 2-0 up, but then she came back quick. So, yeah, I was not putting enough pressure on her with my serve, so of course, you know, when you play players like that, you don’t have too much time to waste.
“Of course we are in the late stages of the tournament, so, you know, everybody is super focused, super ready.
“Yeah, I mean, these small things, I wish, you know, I could play better, but yeah, don’t want to too much focus on these things. You know, I think I played good tennis today and for the past three weeks. So I just want to take these positives and, yeah, move forward.”
Svitolina defeated Coco Gauff, Mirra Andreeva, Diana Schnaider, Linda Klimovicova, and Cristina Bucsa without dropping a set to confirm her place in the final four.
Sabalenka was penalised with a hindrance early on in the match for an extended grunt, but brushed that frustration aside to win the match.
Elina Svitolina earns impressive milestone after Australian Open
Svitolina took an extended break at the tail end of the 2025 season and it’s worked wonders for her form at the start of the season.
The star won the ASB Classic and used that momentum to storm to the last eight of the first Grand Slam of the year.
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As a result, Svitolina will return to the top 10 of the WTA Tour rankings when they update following the Australian Open final.
The Ukrainian star has not been in the top 10 since the 2021 season, so it’s an impressive highlight for the 31-year-old.
Svitolina has been as high as World No. 3, which she achieved in the 2019 season after reaching the WTA Finals.
