Aryna Sabalenka made history at the Australian Open on Thursday, January 29, reaching her fourth consecutive final at Melbourne Park. She defeated Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina 6-2, 6-3 in just 77 minutes to reach her second consecutive Grand Slam final. Speaking during her post-match on-court interview, Sabalenka became very emotional, reflecting on her past self and how she would view her performance.
Aryna Sabalenka Reaches Fourth Consecutive Australian Open Final After Beating Elina Svitolina
Both players stepped onto the Rod Laver Arena having won all their matches in straight sets so far in Melbourne, and with 10-match winning streaks: Svitolina won the ASB Classic, and Sabalenka captured the Brisbane International.
The World No. 1 was the favorite, with over 80% chance of securing the win; however, Svitolina was in impressive form, having beaten the World No. 3 Gauff in straight sets just two days before the semifinal clash.
Sabalenka broke Svitolina twice to secure the first set 6-2 in 42 minutes. The Ukrainian was returning to her form at the beginning of the second set, breaking Sabalenka early to take a 2-0 lead.
Sabalenka switched gears immediately, showing her hard-court prowess, and went on to close out the second set 6-3 in just over 30 minutes to reach her fourth consecutive Australian Open semifinal.
With this win, the Belarusian has now reached the finals of all the Grand Slams played on hard court surfaces.
The Belarusian champion was evidently emotional after the match, with tears running down her face. During the on-court interview after the match, the interviewer asked Sabalenka what her 10-year-old self would think of her consistently impressive performance. Sabalenka began by saying, “Oh, I don’t know, I’m sensitive right now.”
She expressed the emotions she was feeling, saying, “I think she would be just super proud that I was able to make it here at just, you know? I would never think that I would be able to, first of all, make it to the top 10, and secondly, to be that consistent and be able to play on such big Arenas in front of you all and feel all the support. Just the dream life.”
Sabalenka was emotional after reaching her 4th straight Australian Open final
“How proud would your 10 year old self be of you?
Aryna: “Every day I’m grateful for everything I have. I hope she would be proud of me.” 🥹
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) January 29, 2026
“Every day, I’m grateful for everything I have. And I mean, I don’t know, I hope she would be proud of me,” Sabalenka concluded, with the entire Rod Laver Arena on their feet to cheer for the World No. 1.
Sabalenka Continues to Dominate the Australian Hard-Courts
Sabalenka dominated the match, hitting 29 winners, while committing just 1 double fault and 15 unforced errors throughout the match. She also showed an impressive serving game throughout the match, landing 67% of her first serves while winning nearly 70% of her first serve points. She also won around 60% of the total points in the match, which made the entire difference.
Svitolina, on the other hand, struggled to land her serves and only won 56% of her first serve points during the match. In response to Sabalenka’s aggressive play, Svitolina hit only 12 winners and committed 17 unforced errors, winning only one of the nine return points.
Sabalenka has now won 26 of her last 27 matches in Melbourne, showing her mastery on the hard courts. She also broke Novak Djokovic’s nearly two-decade-old record by winning 20 consecutive tiebreaks at Grand Slam tournaments, ‘upsetting’ the 24-time champion.
