In a politically heated match on Thursday, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka easily defeated Elina Svitolina of Ukraine to advance to her fourth consecutive Australian Open final.
Top-ranked Sabalenka won 6-2, 6-3 without a handshake. She will now compete for her third Melbourne title against either Jessica Pegula or Elena Rybakina.
The 12th-seeded Svitolina was on the verge of becoming the first Ukrainian woman to advance to a Grand Slam singles final in the Open era, but it prevented her from making history.
Due to the conflict, Svitolina, like other Ukrainian athletes, refuses to shake hands with rivals from Russia or Belarus, an ally of Moscow.
Fans were asked to “respect” the declaration that there will be no handshake prior to the semi-final at Rod Laver Arena, which was displayed on a large screen.
Additionally, the two players were conspicuously separated for the pre-match formalities and pictures.
Afterwards, Sabalenka was on the verge of tears as she thought about her “dream” existence.
“I’m super happy with the win, she’s a really tough opponent, and she was playing really incredible tennis throughout the whole week,” she said of Svitolina.
“But there is still work to be done.”
Both were applauded as they took the court, but the Belarusian four-time major champion had a significantly louder reception.
Sabalenka had won in Brisbane in the lead-up, and Svitolina had won in Auckland. Both were in fierce form going into the match, having not dropped a set in Melbourne and on 10-match winning runs.
The fourth game began with controversy.
Sabalenka received a hindrance call for grunting when the match was on serve, which led to a lengthy video review and jeers.
After losing the point, a very agitated Sabalenka regained her composure to break for 3-1 and then hold for 4-1.
After being humiliated by Madison Keys in the final a year ago, Sabalenka declared that winning the Melbourne title again was her top aim, referring to it as “trophy or nothing.”
In a determined mindset, the hard-hitting 27-year-old broke once more en route to winning the set in 41 dominating minutes.
In the second set, Svitolina, 31, retaliated by breaking Sabalenka’s serve to take a 2-0 lead.
A motivated Sabalenka rallied and won five straight games for a 5-2 record, putting them on the verge of another championship game.
Later on Thursday, sixth-seeded American Jessica Pegula will face fifth-seeded Kazakhstani Rybakina, who was born in Moscow.
