Rybakina wins bruising tussle with Azarenka to reach Australian ...

Seven months ago, Elena Rybakina stood on Centre Court as she achieved one of her dreams and imagined what could follow. Her Wimbledon title was one of the ultimate achievements of her profession, but it told little about what would happen next. The recent years, as players have struggled hard to follow up their first victories, made one thing clear: winning one major is hard enough.

It has not taken her long to back it up. Rybakina took another enormous step forward in her career on Thursday, with another grand slam final run two major events later.

In a nervous, bruising tussle against a third consecutive grand slam champion, Rybakina managed the decisive moments and defeated Victoria Azarenka 7-6 (4), 6-3 to reach the Australian Open final for the first time.

Even as both players looked to take the initiative and dominate the baseline, this match was always going to be told in its contrasts. While Rybakina, the 22nd seed, has established herself as one of the best servers in the world, in her peak years Azarenk, the 24th seed, was arguably the best returner in the world.

The challenge before them was illustrated immediately. After Rybakina slammed down three aces in a row to secure her first hold, Azarenka landed the first break by deflecting returns off 114mph and 113mph serves to within centimeters of the baseline.

As Rybakina’s greater weight of shot, with the power she generates so easily, met Azarenka’s incessant depth and industriousness, Rybakina moved ahead. She held a set point at 5-3, which Azarenka snuffed out with a spectacular forehand down-the-line winner.

The tiebreak was desperately tense, with Rybakina’s first serve deserting her and Azarenka spraying unforced errors, but Rybakina held firm in the final exchangesand Azarenka sent a final forehand error wide.

With the first set secured, Rybakina visibly relaxed. She broke serve quickly in the second set after a flurry of Azarenka mistakes and her own serve returned in full. Whenever Azarenka managed to generate a half-chance, she slammed the door shut.

After Azarenka’s final backhand struck the net, Rybakina celebrated another success with her customary introversion, merely wiping her forehand with her wristband.

After Wimbledon, Rybakina vented her frustration when her life did not change nearly as much as she expected. She received no respect with court assignments and her low seeding, still outside the top 20 due to the lack of points on offer at Wimbledon, meant she received far more difficult draws than a reigning grand slam champion would otherwise get.

The shift in mentality has been clear in this tournament. She no longer cares. If she was capable of winning Wimbledon, she is also capable of tearing past anyone across the net. The consequence of that shift is evident in a run to the final that has been even more impressive than her first. Rybakina followed her third-round win over last year’s finalist, Danielle Collins, by usurping the world No 1, Iga Swiatek, and then blowing past former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.

Against Azarenka, the 2012 and 2013 champion, in slower, cold night conditions, she could not summon the level of her previous rounds. No matter, she demonstrated her mental toughness under pressure and underlined she has only just begun.

• Australian Open 2023

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