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World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka stormed into the women's singles final after thrashing 12th-seeded Elina Svitolina in a one-sided semifinal at Rod Laver Arena on Thursday.
Sabalenka earned her fourth consecutive Australian Open final birth with a resounding 6-2 6-3 semifinal victory over 12th seed Elina. The top seed took one hour and 16 minutes to secure victory. "An incredible achievement, but the job's not done yet," Sabalenka said, as quoted by the Australian Open. "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." Sabalenka said she had watched Svitolina progress through the AO 2026 draw, adding that the Ukrainian's notable upsets over third seed Coco Gauff and eighth seed Mirra Andreeva helped her formulate a game plan. "I've been watching her game; she was playing incredibly against Mirra, against Coco, overall throughout the tournament," Sabalenka said. "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 am happy to get the win in straight sets," the World No. 1 added. The 27-year-old Sabalenka and Svitolina entered the clash as arguably the two most in-form players of the season, having hoisted trophies at the Brisbane International and Auckland's ASB Classic, respectively, and earned their Australian Open semifinal berths without losing a set, according to the Australian Open. (ANI)
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