Even a rain break didn’t get Elena Rybakina out of step: The 23-year-old Wimbledon winner from Kazakhstan is in the semifinals of the Australian Open. The men have the first task of the tournament – the night session is currently running.
Rybakina prevailed in a duel between two Grand Slam winners against Latvian Jelena Ostapenko 6: 2, 6: 4.
Rybakina, who knocked out the title favorite Iga Swiatek from Poland in the round of 16, meets the winner of the match between the USA Jessica Pegula and the two-time Melbourne winner Viktoria Azarenka from Belarus in the semifinals. Her match against Ostapenko was interrupted in the first set when the score was 3:1 because the roof of the Rod Laver Arena had to be closed due to rain.
“In Australia you never know how the weather will develop. That’s the nice thing about the sport, that you always have to adapt to new conditions,” said the native Russian. She had won the first Grand Slam title for Kazakhstan at Wimbledon, and has been serving for the country since 2018. Ostapenko won the French Open in 2017.
Sebastian Korda, meanwhile, missed the semifinals of the Australian Open. The 22-year-old was unable to complete his quarter-final against Russia’s Karen Khachanov in Melbourne on Tuesday, with a score of 6-7 (5-7), 3-6, 0-3 he gave up due to wrist problems. It would have been Korda’s first round of the last four in a Grand Slam.
“It got worse during the match. I hit a forehand return early in the second set and then it was hard to hold the racquet at times,” Korda said. “Now I have to go to the doctor and see what it is. ” Despite the disappointing end, he takes a lot of positive things from Melbourne.
The son of Petr Korda, winner of the 1998 Down Under tournament, sought medical treatment in the second round and continued playing with a tape around his wrist. He didn’t stand a chance against Khachanov, who reached his second major semifinal after last year’s US Open.
Australian Open, day 9: The quarter-finals matches at a glance
| player 1 | player 2 | result/time |
| Elena Rybakina (KAZ/22) | Yelena Ostapenko (LAT/17) | 6:2, 6:4 |
| Jessica Pegula (USA/3) | Viktoria Azarenka (BLR/24) | NOW in the live ticker |
| player 1 | player 2 | result/time |
| Karen Khachanov (RUS/18) | Sebastian Korda (USA/29) | 7: 6, 6: 3, 3: 0 (Korda task) |
| Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE/3) | Jiri Lehecka (CZE) | Live ticker (approx. 10.30 a.m.) |
