Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina will contest the 2023 Australian Open final after both secured impressive straight-sets victories on Thursday.
Up first inside Rod Laver Arena, Wimbledon champion Rybakina secured her second final in the past three majors with a 7-6, 6-3 win over two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, before fifth seed Sabalenka booked her place in the title match by beating world No 45 Magda Linette 7-6, 6-2.
It will be Sabalenka's first Grand Slam final, which promises to be a blockbuster encounter between two of the WTA Tour's most powerful players.
Sabalenka admitted earlier that she has let her emotions get the better of her in the past, but in Melbourne there have been few signs of the wobbles that have so far restricted the Belarusian from winning a Grand Slam.
That didn't appear to be the case after the opening game when Linette immediately broke and held for a 2-0 lead, but once Sabalenka had settled into the match - and broke back for 2-2 - she settled into her stride and gradually seized control.
Both players were excellent on serve for much of the first set, which was decided by a one-sided tiebreak, and from there Sabalenka rode the momentum to race into a 5-1 lead. Linette battled to extend the match, saving three match points in the seventh game, but it only delayed the inevitable as Sabalenka closed out the victory in 94 minutes.
Rybakina added to what already was an impressive run through a string of top opponents. Azarenka, the champion at Melbourne Park in 2012 and 2013, joined a list of players eliminated by Rybakina over the past two weeks that includes world No 1 Iga Swiatek, 17th-ranked Jelena Ostapenko, and 2022 Australian Open runner-up Danielle Collins.
As usual, Rybakina did it with her powerful serve – firing nine aces to bring her total to a tournament-high 44 – and stinging groundstrokes that she used to close points seemingly at will. The performance was particularly noteworthy against a returner and defender as established on hard courts as Azarenka, a former world No 1 and a three-time runner-up at the US Open.
"I'm super happy and proud. Without my team it would be difficult to be here so thanks a lot to them," Rybakina, Kazakhstan's first Grand Slam champion, said on court.
"It was an incredible atmosphere and I'm super happy to be in the final and play again here. It was difficult conditions, I couldn't play offensive tennis but I'm happy I managed to win."
Victory extended Sabalenka's winning run this year to 10 matches following her successful march to the Adelaide title which warmed her up nicely for the season's first major.
"I'm super happy that I was able to get this win and she's an unbelievable player," Sabalenka said of Linette. "She played really great tennis. The atmosphere was unbelievable.
"Just being in the final in this kind of tournament is amazing. To feel this atmosphere, to play on this court it's a great experience for me and I hope it's going to help tomorrow. Sorry, Saturday."
Meanwhile, Azarenka said the loss was difficult to digest. Her bid for a third title at Melbourne Park ended flatly, with a backhand hammered into the net, one of 27 unforced errors.
"It’s kind of hard to digest, obviously," a gloomy Azarenka told reporters, wearing sunglasses at her post-match media conference.
"Obviously I had quite a few chances that I gave myself. I cannot really say I'm really proud of how I played."
