The matchup is set for the 2026 Australian Open women’s final.
Elena Rybakina eliminated American Jessica Pegula in straight sets Thursday, Jan. 29, in Melbourne to claim one spot. She’ll face two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka for the title in the season’s first Grand Slam event.
Rybakina cruised in the opening set 6-3, and seemed on her way to an easy victory. But Pegula fought off a match point to break Rybakina and push the second set to a tiebreaker. However, Pegula couldn’t convert a couple of set point opportunities and Rybakina was able to close out the match, winning the tiebreaker 9-7.
Earlier in the evening, top-seeded Sabalenka defeated Elina Svitolina in a semifinal overshadowed by geopolitical tension. Sabalenka, from Belarus, scored a 6-2, 6-3 win over Svitolina, from Ukraine. Svitolina has been vocal about the strain of playing players from Belarus and Russia, and said she hoped to bring her nation ‘light’ at the Australian Open after a tough winter.