On Thursday, January 29, 2026, World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina made their entry into the final of the Australian Open women’s singles event. Both female players achieved dominant wins in their respective semi-final matches and will face each other in the final match scheduled on Saturday, January 31. Meanwhile, America’s Jessica Pegula and Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina were knocked out of their finals.
In the first semi-finals match, Sabalenka defeated 12th seed Svitolina by sets of 6-2, 6-3. The two-time champion is the second women’s tennis star to make her consecutive finals appearance in the Australia Open for more than four times. The women’s singles world No. 1 player from Belarus finished the match in a one-hour and 16-minute match.
Following the post-match victory, Sabalenka expressing her excitement at making her finals entry said, “I just cannot believe it, honestly. That is an incredible achievement but the job is not done yet.”
In the fourth game, Sabalenka was, however, called out after performing a forehand late that was either too wide or sailed long but instead it was dropped down in the court’s corner.
Svitolina went towards chair umpire Louise Azemar Engzell for an argument, and upon review, the call went against the world No.1, and the point was awarded to the Ukrainian.
On the other hand, Kazakhstan’s Rybakina took down Pegula by sets of 6-3, 7-6(7) in a one-hour and 40-minute battle. Pegula was forced down against Rybakina’s dominance in the first set and went for the second set victory in a tiebreaker. With the semi-finals win, the Kazakhstani is set to make her second finals appearance in the Melbourne Park event. In addition to that, Rybakina is aiming to claim her second major title, having won Wimbledon in 2022 and to become the first Ukrainian women’s slam finalist.
Meanwhile, Rybakina will face Sabalenka in the Australian Open finals for the second time, having previously met in the 2023 edition. That season, the Kazakhstani lost to the Belarusian by sets of 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Rybakina has also faced the world No. 1 women’s singles player in the 2025 WTA Finals.
In another semi-final match of the men’s singles event, Italy’s Jannik Sinner and Serbia’s Novak Djokovic have bagged their respective spots in the semi-finals. The two will face each other on January 30, with only one qualifying for the finals, who will then compete with the winner of the semi-finals match between world No. 1 men’s singles player Carlos Alcaraz and Germany’s Alexander Zverev.
