AO2023: Sabalenka and Rybakina land final tickets

Four went down to two.

Day 11 at Australian Open 2023 was headlined by a quartet of women at the peak of their powers. Here is what happened Down Under at Melbourne Park…

Four time's a charm

With her firepower and supreme athleticism, it always seemed a matter of time before Aryna Sabalenka made her mark on the Grand Slam Roll of Honour.

Three previous major semi-finals, a trio of three-set defeats. Forget that now, the 24-year-old is now a Grand Slam finalist.

Sabalenka continued her exemplary start to 2023 to post a tenth successive victory with a 7-6(1), 6-2 scoreline to end Magda Linette's career-best run.

"I'm super happy that I was able to get this win, she's an unbelievable player, she played really great tennis," said Sabalenka, who has now claimed all 20 sets she's competed in this season so far.

"Being in a final at this kind of tournament is amazing, to feel this atmosphere, to play on this court.

"I didn't start really well and then in the tie-break I found my rhythm, started trusting myself, starting going for the shots."

Fast forward to Saturday and the world No.5 will head into her first Grand Slam final over the net from Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.

It will be a clash of ferocious ball striking and foot to the floor tennis.

All their previous three battles have gone the distance. Grab some extra popcorn, this final could go down to the wire.

"She's an amazing player, she's playing great tennis, super aggressive, and she's already got one Grand Slam so she has the experience of playing in a final," stated Sabalenka

"It's going to be a great final, I'm really looking forward to it."

Earlier on Rod Laver Arena, Rybakina fought off a gallant effort from two-time champion Victoria Azarenka 7-6(4) 6-3.

In doing so, the 22nd seed became the first female player to defeat three former Grand Slam champions in the same edition of the Australian Open since Jennifer Capriati in 2001.

Rybakina backed up a triumph over world No.1 Iga Swiatek and then Jelena Ostapenko to clatter 30 winners past Azarenka's reach.

"For sure I'm super happy, I'm super proud. I'm very happy to play here one more time," said the Kazakh youngster, who can climb to world No.8 with the title.

"Today it was a little tough for me, different conditions, I couldn’t be super aggressive. I would say it still took me a lot of time. It was not easy because Vika, she's a great player. She was playing really good, smart.

"Overall, I'm happy that I managed to win first set, and then it was a bit better in the second.

"For sure I got a lot of experience from Wimbledon, to be honest I just want to come on court and enjoy the moment, the atmosphere. I'll try my best, fight and hopefully I'm going to win."