Rybakina: "I am very calm, I come with the confidence from last season"

A few days ago, Elena Rybakina confessed at a press conference what her strategy would be to defeat Iga Swiatek in this 2026 Australian Open. And the Kazakh was not lying, as she will be the one competing in the women's singles semifinals.

The triumph of Elena Rybakina confirms that the Kazakh is back at her best, ready to fight for the most important tournaments on the calendar. And here at the Australian Open, she was already one step away in 2023, so now it's time to remove that thorn. For now, we will see her tomorrow in the semifinals, facing either Jessica Pegula or Amanda Anisimova, although the Wimbledon champion knows that it will all depend on her. And on her serve, of course, she can't miss that. Here we bring you her words after another joy in Melbourne.

Happy for the victory

“Very happy for the win, happy to win in straight sets. I struggled a bit with the serve in the first set, but overall, I am happy to have won in two sets. I felt the start was a bit slow from both of us, I think the first service percentage for both of us was not high. Maybe it's because yesterday I practiced indoors, although I did it because it was too hot, so I had to adjust. Then in the second set, I tried to step into the shots from a different position and move my shots more, so I'm glad it worked out.”

Elena Rybakina indicates the toughest aspects in recent years

“The toughest thing in recent years, I would say, has been to stay consistent during the two weeks of competition, throughout the full two weeks. There are always challenging days, days where you can play indoors or outdoors, play with sun or in a night match. All conditions are complicated, so it depends on how quickly you can adapt. Now I am calmer when delving into the tournament, at first you see reaching the final as a far-off possibility, as well as experiencing everything much more emotionally. Today I feel like I'm just doing my job, trying to improve every day.”

Comparison with her tournament in 2023

“I don't exactly remember how I started the tournament in 2023, I would say based on the scores it was much tougher rounds for me, but I feel this time I didn't start the matches so well, I mean in terms of feeling the shots and all those things, but still, I managed to win in straight sets. Physically, I feel good, but it's hard to compare with my version from three years ago. What I'm sure about is that I've been playing better in each passing match.”

Communication with her box during the match

“For me, it's always better, of course, it's good news that the coaches are close by, so you can hear them better. It's good to receive advice, especially when something isn't working, so I think it was a good decision to bring the coaches a bit closer to the court. In the end, I believe it's better to get some information than none, at least for me.”

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Winning streak against the top 10

“Last season, in those final tournaments I played, I gained some confidence through some tough matches. Of course, this is something I will try to carry into this season as well, throughout the year. I still have many things to improve, things to work on, but the most important thing is that I'm trying to stay aggressive whenever I have the opportunity to intervene, to take a risk a bit. Even today, I had a couple of shots that were very close to the line, so I'm glad to do it my way, the most important part of my game is being aggressive.”

Jessica Pegula in the semifinals

“She is a very experienced opponent who moves very well, her ball always stays very low. That sometimes makes it very difficult to play against her, but I will try to adapt. We'll see who wins, I will talk to my team to design the plan, I will try to do my best.”

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Rybakina: “Estoy muy tranquila, vengo con la confianza de la temporada pasada"