Australian Open semifinal preview: Can Svitolina stop Sabalenka?
The first semifinal of the Australian Open is set.
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, in pursuit of her third career title in Melbourne, will take on 31-year-old Elina Svitolina, who is into her first career Australian Open final four.
Sabalenka secured the first semifinal berth with a 6-3, 6-0 win over teenage upstart Iva Jovic. Jovic pushed Sabalenka in the first set, proving that the moment wasn't too big for her, but Sabalenka stood her ground in the second and didn't give an inch.
"The second set, I felt like I had to step in and put even more pressure on her," Sabalenka said. "Because I can see that she's young, she's hungry, and I could tell during the match that no matter the score, she's still going to be there trying."
Sabalenka hit 31 winners, and now has 143 -- the most of any player -- through her first five matches.
In the nightcap, Svitolina put on a clinic against Gauff, winning 6-1, 6-2 in just 59 minutes to advance to her fourth career Grand Slam semifinal.
Svitolina changed direction with ease against the third-ranked American, hit 12 winners to Gauff's three and won 71 percent of her first-serve points.
"For me, it's all about trying to find new ways to win now," Svitolina said. "There are so many young players. There's so many aggressive players who, if you're not at your best, they are just taking the match from you. So you have to evolve your game. You have to be better."
Svitolina, who is guaranteed to return to the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz Top 10, has now won 10 straight matches to start 2026. So, too, has Sabalenka.
Ahead of their semifinal match, writers Brad Kallet and Greg Garber make the case for each player.
Australian Open semifinal: Aryna Sabalenka [1] vs. Elina Svitolina [12]
Head-to-head: Sabalenka leads 5-1
What's at stake: Sabalenka is continuing her climb up the record books. She's now reached eight consecutive Grand Slam semifinals on hard courts, and is on the cusp of her fourth straight Australian Open final. And if she wins two more matches this week, she'll tie icons Martina Hingis and Maria Sharapova on the all-time Grand Slam list, with five.
As for Svitolina, she's been to three Grand Slam semifinals before, but never advanced to the final. Winning this match would be a career highlight for the 19-time WTA Tour champion, adding significantly to her already stellar resume.
The Case for Sabalenka
Brad Kallet: It's always been easy to make a case for Sabalenka, but I'm not sure it's ever been easier. Sabalenka hasn't dropped a set so far in 2026, with several wins over top players (Madison Keys, Karolina Muchova, Marta Kostyuk, Victoria Mboko, Jovic). Yes, she's been challenged of late and been taken to a few tiebreakers, but she simply doesn't lose those. The World No. 1 has now won 20 straight tiebreakers in Grand Slam play dating back to 2023, a testament to how clutch she is. And in addition to her unmatched power, she's also added more variety to her game, mixing in drops shots and slices and coming to the net more.
She's beaten Svitolina four straight times, and she hardly ever loses in Australia. She won't this time, either.
The Case for Svitolina
Greg Garber: This is just another major semifinal for Sabalenka -- at the age of 27, it's already the 14th of her career and the fourth straight in Melbourne. Think about what this means to Svitolina, a 31-year-old mother. It’s her first Australian Open semifinal in her 13th appearance.
"So many years here," Svitolina said, "so many tries."
That sounds like destiny to me, Brad. She’s never been past the final four in three previous tries and this might be her last, best chance to get that elusive Grand Slam singles title. No has had a better start this year. Svitolina is 10-0 after winning the title in Auckland, and now she’s beaten Top 10 players in back-to-back matches for the first time in seven years. The stunningly one-sided win over Gauff came in 59 minutes, the briefest women’s quarterfinal match here in six years.
There’s another factor at work here, too, Brad, that can’t be underestimated. Svitolina is playing for her ravaged country, Ukraine.
"It was, I think, one of the toughest winters for Ukrainian people, without electricity and everything,” Svitolina said. “So I feel like [I can] bring this light, a little light, even just positive news to Ukrainian people."