Aryna Sabalenka reaches her fourth successive Australian Open final: Stats
What's the story
Top seed Aryna Sabalenka is the first finalist of the 2026 Australian Open. She reached the summit clash after beating 12th seed Elina Svitolina 6-2, 6-3 in the women's singles semi-final on Rod Laver Arena in just over an hour. Sabalenka, who won the Australian Open in 2023 and 2024, has reached her fourth successive final here. She was the runner-up last year.
Stats
A look at match stats
Sabalenka stormed past Svitolina in the first set, claiming 19 winners. Although Svitolina took a 2-1 lead in the second set, Sabalenka converted two break points to prevail. The Belarusian star had a win percentage of 69 and 67 on the first and second serves, respectively. She won seven of her 10 net points. Svitolina had more unforced errors (17) than Sabalenka (15).
Numbers
Sabalenka's unbeaten run at Melbourne Park
Sabalenka has raced to a 106-26 win-loss record at Grand Slams. At the Australian Open, her win-loss record reads 34-6. She is a four-time Grand Slam winner and a three-time runner-up here. She has won the Australian Open twice, in 2023 and 2024. The 27-year-old has won 26 of her last 27 matches at the Australian Open.
Information
Svitolina's journey ends
Svitolina earlier reached her maiden Australian Open semi-final. She did not lose a set en route to the last four clash. Notably, Sabalenka now has a 6-1 lead over Svitolina in the WTA head-to-head series.
Information
Final: Sabalenka vs Rybakina
Sabalenka will now face Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina in a rematch of the 2023 Australian Open final. The latter defeated Jessica Pegula in her semi-final. Notably, Sabalenka leads Rybakina 8-6 in WTA matches.
Feats
Sabalenka reaches these landmarks
As per Opta, Sabalenka is the third woman in the Open Era to reach four-plus consecutive singles Australian Open finals, joining Evonne Goolagong and Martina Hingis. She also reached her eighth WTA-level final on Australian soil, the third-most since 2000. She is only behind Serena Williams (11) and Justine Henin (10). Sabalenka broke a tie with Kim Clijsters and Victoria Azarenka (7 each).