By Shrivathsa Sridhar
MELBOURNE, Jan 28 (Reuters) – Aryna Sabalenka will aim to take a huge stride towards a third Australian Open title in four years when the Belarusian top seed clashes with Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina on Thursday in a semi-final simmering with geopolitical tension.
Both players will navigate the political sensitivities that have cast a shadow over their meetings on the tour since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, for which Belarus has been a staging ground, and there will be no customary handshakes at the net.
The war has shaped the atmosphere when Ukrainian players go up against their Russian and Belarusian rivals on the tour, with Svitolina among the most vocal in highlighting the strain such encounters carry and the message she feels compelled to send.
But once the first ball is struck, the focus will narrow to their ambitions at Melbourne Park as Sabalenka pushes to extend her hardcourt supremacy with another final while Svitolina aims to break new ground on a stage she has long circled.
“I think every player, when they get to the tournament, it’s trophy or nothing. The mentality is the same and it’s always in the back of your mind that you want to win it,” Sabalenka said after her crushing quarter-final win over teenager Iva Jovic.
“But I’m trying to shift my focus on the right things and taking it step by step, and trying my best in each match, each point, each game, each set. That’s my mentality.”
SABALENKA’S NEAR‑FLAWLESS EXECUTION
Her approach has translated into near‑flawless execution on the court, the top seed sweeping through five rounds in straight sets, scarcely offering opponents a foothold as she marches toward a fourth successive final in Melbourne.
A third trophy at the venue of her Grand Slam breakthrough would also move Sabalenka to five majors, drawing her level with Martina Hingis and Maria Sharapova on the all‑time winners’ list and underlining her rise over the past few seasons.
Sabalenka’s success has flowed from the power and precision of her baseline game, but she has diversified her arsenal, with slices, drop shots and the occasional serve-and-volley to keep her opponents guessing.
Svitolina arrives in the semi-final on the back of her own tenacious surge through the draw, the 12th seed leaning on her court coverage and competitive steel to wear opponents down as she bids to win a maiden Grand Slam title.
But she will be fighting the weight of her past clashes with Sabalenka, having lost five of their six meetings, including the last four, in a sequence that underlines the scale of the huge challenge awaiting her on Rod Laver Arena.
“When you play the top players, you have to find these small opportunities and be ready to take them,” Svitolina said after a crushing quarter-final win over Coco Gauff.
“It’s going to be another big challenge. Of course, I’m a step away from the final.”
With both Svitolina and Sabalenka bringing 10–0 records to their meeting after winning tune-up events at the start of 2026, the semi-final puts two in-form campaigns on a collision course and only one will remain intact.
STYLE CLASH
In Thursday’s other last-four match, the spotlight will firmly be on fifth seed Elena Rybakina and sixth seed Jessica Pegula in what will be an intriguing clash between differing styles and personalities.
Rybakina, beaten by Sabalenka in the 2023 Melbourne title round, has flown under the radar this year in keeping with her typically understated demeanour until a quarter-final victory over Iga Swiatek and she is shaping up as a major threat.
Having arrived in Melbourne in strong form following a late surge in 2025 when she won the WTA Finals title, the big-hitter is primed to add another significant trophy to a cabinet that already contains the Wimbledon crown.
Meanwhile, outspoken American Pegula, who is chasing her maiden major after a run to the U.S. Open final in 2024, will hope her strong baseline game and movement can help her break new ground.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN ORDER OF PLAY ON THURSDAY
Order of play on the 12th day of the Australian Open (prefix number denotes seeding):
ROD LAVER ARENA
Night session (0830 GMT/1930 AEDT)
1-Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) v 12-Elina Svitolina (Ukraine)
6-Jessica Pegula (U.S.) v 5-Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan)
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Melbourne;Editing by Christian Radnedge)
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