Daijiworld Media Network - Melbourne

Melbourne, Jan 28: Fifth seed Elena Rybakina produced a dominant finish to defeat Iga Swiatek in a 1 hour and 35-minute battle, winning eight of the last nine games to level their head-to-head record at 6-6.

After being broken in the opening game, the Kazakh star — the 2025 WTA ace leader — found her rhythm on serve in emphatic fashion despite landing only 49% of her first serves. She fought back from a 0-40 deficit early in the first set and went on to drop just 12 points across her next eight service games.

Rybakina fired 26 winners, including 11 aces, and kept her unforced errors to 19, though 14 of those came in the tight opening set, where nine of the 12 games went to deuce. Swiatek struggled to match that consistency, managing only 10 winners while her error count climbed to 25.

“I’m really pleased with the win,” Rybakina said after the match. “We know each other pretty well, and I was just trying to stay aggressive… In the second set, I just started to play more free, serve better, and I’m really happy with the win.”

With the victory, Rybakina registered her 18th win in her last 19 matches and extended her streak to eight consecutive victories over Top 10 opponents.

The 2022 Wimbledon champion will next face No. 6 seed Jessica Pegula, who advanced after defeating Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 7-6(1), as Rybakina eyes a place in her third career Grand Slam singles final.

Swiatek later admitted she struggled to maintain the intensity, especially as Rybakina raised her level in the second set. “In first set it was a difference of a couple points… Then in the second set the pace from her got a little bit even higher,” she said, adding she would focus on improving key areas moving forward.