Rybakina résiste à l'assaut de Pegula et se retrouve en finale contre Sabalenka
Elena Rybakina will play the final of the Australian Open after defeating Pegula in two sets. The Kazakh will face Sabalenka in Saturday's final.
Elena Rybakina reached her third Grand Slam final in her career after defeating Jessica Pegula in straight sets in the semifinals of the 2026 Australian Open, with a score of 6‑3, 7‑6(7), and will face Aryna Sabalenka in the final in Melbourne.
The fifth seed had to withstand Pegula's pressure, who managed to save three match points in the second-set tiebreak and broke Rybakina's serve twice when the Kazakh had opportunities to close out the match. Nonetheless, Rybakina managed to prevail in a tightly contested tie-break, sealing the final two points with her sixth ace of the day and a crucial backhand winner to secure the victory.
An Overwhelming First Set
From the first exchange, it was clear that the Kazakh arrived with clear intentions: in the first set, she broke Pegula's serve right at the beginning, in the first return game, sending a warning to the American of what was to come. From there, the match unfolded with the rhythm of their serves. Each held their serve until Rybakina closed out the first set convincingly at 6-3.
The level rose significantly in the second set. And with it, the tension. Rybakina had two serves to close out the match, but in an unexpected turn, Pegula broke her on both occasions due to the Kazakh's nerves, whose count of unforced errors kept mounting as the match progressed. Pegula's precision against Rybakina's power. This was the scenario in the decisive second-set tie-break. Pegula even sniffed the third and decisive set, holding two set points that she could not convert. Rybakina eventually prevailed 9-7 to book her spot in the grand final.
The Dream Final
This will be the second Australian Open final for Rybakina (after the 2023 final against Sabalenka), and her first in three years. In that 2023 final, Sabalenka triumphed 4‑6, 6‑3, 6‑4 to clinch the title.
Moreover, Rybakina and Sabalenka become one of the pairs of players who have faced each other the most times in Grand Slam finals, with this being the fifth occasion they will meet in a title match.
This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Rybakina resiste la embestida de Pegula y se cita con Sabalenka en la final