Sabalenka Defeats Linette To Set Up Australian Open Final With Rybakina

Aryna Sabalenka will have a face-off with Elena Rybakina in Saturday's Australian Open final after overcoming Magda Linette in a straight-sets win.

The final is going to be Sabalenka's first major final having won 7-6 (7-1) 6-2 against her unseeded opponent in Melbourne.

Sabalenka who had lost her three previous Grand Slam semi-finals had a tense opening set as she made three unforced errors to drop her serve.

But she quickly recovered after the first set tiebreak and raced past Linette who had no solution to stop the big hitter.

“I’m super happy that I was able to get this win, she's an unbelievable player, she played great tennis,” said Sabakalenka who hit 33 winners against her opponent said in her post-match interview.

“I’m just super happy right now. I would say I didn’t start really well and then, in the tiebreak, I found my rhythm and started trusting myself, started going for the shots and it was great tennis from me in the tiebreak.

“To be in the final of these kinds of tournaments is amazing, to feel this atmosphere on these kinds of courts.”

Four time's the charm. ?

Aryna Sabalenka reaches her first Slam final in her fourth semi. pic.twitter.com/THKiNZFCe6

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) January 26, 2023

Earlier in Melbourne, Rybakina triumphed over Victoria Azarenka to storm into her first Australian Open final.

The 23-year-old Wimbledon champion won 7-6 (7-4) 6-3  in one hour 41 minutes to bring an end to Azarenka's title-winning hopes of winning 10 years after her last triumph.

Rybakina's big serving is attributed to her success at Melbourne Park thus far having defeated reigning French and US Open champion Iga Swiatek in the fourth round and 2017 Roland Garros winner Jelena Ostapenko in the quarter-finals.

"I got a lot of experience from Wimbledon. I just want to come on court and really enjoy the experience.

"For sure I'll try my best, I'll fight, and hopefully I'm going to win," said Rybakina in her post-match news conference.