Elena Rybakina defeats Iga Świątek to reach the Australian Open semifinals

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Elena Rybakina defeated Iga Świątek 7-5, 6-1 on Wednesday to reach the semifinals of the Australian Open and prevent the Polish player from completing a career Grand Slam of singles titles.

The win gave Rybakina a shot at her second Grand Slam title after winning Wimbledon in 2022.

Świątek is a four-time French Open champion and has won the U.S. Open and Wimbledon. She was trying to become the 11th woman to complete a career Grand Slam.

The first set took an hour and Rybakina broke Świątek in the final game. The second was almost the opposite.

Rybakina, who was born in Russia but represents Kazakhstan, broke her Polish opponent twice to start the set and moved to a 3-0 lead. She served two aces to go ahead 4-1, broke in the sixth game and finished the match with an ace.

The two played each other five times last season.

“We know each other pretty well,” Rybakina said. "In the first set for both of us, the first serve was not really working so we were trying to step in on the second serve and put pressure on the other.

“In the second I just started to play more freely and served better,” Rybakina added. "For now the serve is really helping, so hopefully I can continue like this.”

In the last women’s quarterfinal, two Americans squared off with Jessica Pegula facing Amanda Anisimova. Pegula is looking for her first Grand Slam title after losing the U.S. Open final in 2024.

Anisimova is also looking for her first Grand Slam and was the losing finalist last season at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

The winner of the Pegula-Anisimova match will play Rybakina in a semifinal on Thursday. In the other semifinal Thursday, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka will play Elina Svitolina.

The final two men’s quarterfinals are also on tap for Wednesday with Lorenzo Musetti playing 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic and Ben Shelton up against two-time defending Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner.