Melbourne, Jan. 28 -- Fifth seed Elena Rybakina reached the Australian Open semifinals for the first time since 2023 after upsetting world No. 2 Iga Swiatek 7-5, 6-1 in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Rybakina produced a dominant finish to the contest, winning eight of the last nine games to seal victory in one hour and 35 minutes and level her head-to-head record against Swiatek at 6-6, as per the WTA Tour website.
After being broken in the opening game, the 2022 Wimbledon champion steadily found her rhythm on serve despite landing just 49 per cent of her first serves. She recovered from a 0-40 deficit at 1-1 in the opening set and went on to drop only 12 points across her next eight service games.
Rybakina struck 26 winners, including ...