By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, January 27, 2026
Photo credit: Australian Open Facebook
Iga Swiatek had her mind set on the career Grand Slam, but Elena Rybakina set Swiatek’s head on a swivel today.
Slashing her 11th ace down the T, Rybakina sealed a 7-5, 6-1 sweep of Swiatek in style streaking into the Australian Open final four.
The fifth-seeded Rybakina has roared through the draw reaching her fourth major semifinal without surrendering a set.
The 2023 AO finalist Rybakina will play either fourth-seeded Amanda Anisimova or sixth-seeded Jessica Pegula for a spot in Saturday’s final.
In a clash of the current and former Wimbledon champions, Rybakina overpowered Swiatek slamming 26 winners—16 more than Swiatek—and converting four of seven break points. The scary thing about this win: Rybakina only served 49 percent yet still pounded the second-seeded Pole rolling through eight of the last nine games.
“I’m not happy with the results,” Swiatek said. “It was a high-intensity match. First set was tight. Like, few points made the difference.
“In second set, for sure, like, she improved the serve. She was going for the shots, and it got much tougher.”
Rybakina is playing for a second Grand Slam championship and first since she defeated Ons Jabeur to capture the 2022 Wimbledon championship.
A red-hot Rybakina scored her 18th win in her last 19 matches—-her lone loss in that superior span came to Karolina Muchova in the Brisbane quarterfinals earlier this month—and she’s posted eight straight Top 10 victories in that span.
On the strength of two backhand strikes down the line, Swiatek broke at 15 to open the match.
Nerves were evident on both sides of the net as Rybakina converted her third break point to break right back in the second game.
The 2025 WTA ace leader rallied from Love-40 down in the third game, registering the first hold for 2-1.
Rybakina ripped a running forehand strike down the line that helped her stamp her first love hold for 4-3.
The second-seeded Swiatek was landing more first serve as she held at 15 to even the set after 10 games.
Whipping the wide serve, Rybakina rolled through her second love hold for 6-5.
Serving to force the tiebreaker, Swiatek lost the range on her first serve and paid the price. Swiatek saved a set point with a topspin forehand winner down the line.
Pouncing on the Pole’s second serve, Rybakina jammed a return down the middle. Swiatek dropped to her knees netting a reply to face a second set point. Swiatek tried challenging Rybakina’s damaging backhand and was burned in the process.
On the ninth shot of the rally the second set netted a backhand trying to change direction.
Though Rybakina served only 41 percent, she slammed 4 aces and won 12 of 13 first-serve points in the 59-minute opening set.
“For sure I didn’t serve as well as, I don’t know, in Cincinnati, for example, against Elena,” Swiatek said. “My serve was kind of normal, and sometimes it could have gave me a bit more.
“As I said, like in first set I think it was a difference of a couple points. She also, I thought, gave me some
chances on her serve, and sometimes I used them. Sometimes it was, like, 30-All and, for example, I missed one return. You know, I wanted to be aggressive on the second serve, so sometimes, yeah, will make mistakes.
“But if you want to break, you need to make it in in the moment like that. Then in the second set I thought, I don’t know, that the pace from her got a little bit even higher, and she was more precise, and maybe I dropped the intensity at the beginning especially.”
In two of their last three meetings, the woman that lost the first set came back to win the match, including Rybakina’s 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 triumph at the WTA Finals last fall.
“You have more time than you think—use the shape,” coach Wim Fissette told Swiatek as she returned from a bathroom break before the second set began.
The 6’1” Rybakina handled the high ball with confidence cracking a clean backhand winner down the line for triple break point. Reading the serve, Rybakina rifled a diagonal forehand return breaking for a 2-0 second-set lead.
After a set of pushing Swiatek with the wide serve, Rybakina changed it up sliding her sixth ace down the T to extend to 3-0.
Wimbledon winner Swiatek challenged the Kazakh’s serve at Love-30 in the fifth game, eventually pushing the game to deuce.
The powerful Rybakina pounded down four aces in that game flashing an ace out wide to hold for 4-1.
The 26-year-old Rybakina threw down that 11th ace to close an impressive win in 95 minutes.
