Melbourne, Australia, January 29th - Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka and Kazakh Yelena Rybakina qualified today for the grand final of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the season.
Top favorite for the title, Sabalenka defeated Ukrainian Elina Svitolina in the semifinals with a score of 6-2, 6-3, in just over an hour of play.
The Belarusian player, world number one and two-time Australian Open champion (2023, 2024), seeks to redeem herself from last year's setback in the final of this tournament, when she lost the title match against American Madison Keys.
Meanwhile, Rybakina, seeded fifth, reached the tournament final after beating American Jessica Pegula, the sixth seed, today by 6-3 and 7-6 (9-7).
The battle for the Australian crown between Sabalenka and Rybakina will be difficult to predict, as their overall head-to-head record is 8-6 in favor of the Belarusian, who owns 22 titles at the top level of professional tennis.
As usual, the Australian Open is held on the hard courts of Melbourne Park, with the participation of the best female tennis players in the world.
