AUSTRALIAN OPEN – Elena Rybakina in the semis after a lightning victory over Jelena Ostapenkoa

Before the tournament, she was not necessarily cited among the contenders, despite her title won at Wimbledon last year. But now, there is no longer any doubt: Elena Rybakina (seeded N.22) has everything in her racket to win a second Grand Slam title, if we are to believe her successful demonstration in the night of Monday to Tuesday to beat Jelena Ostapenko, ex-winner at Roland-Garros, (6-2, 6-4) and thus qualify for the semi-finals of the Australian Open.

On the scoreboard, the match lasted 1h19 but in reality a little half an hour more, the time of interruption when a storm hit Melbourne at the start of a game which had started open roof . At that time, the score was 3-1, 30-40 for Rybakina who had already made the difference. The return to the locker room did not in any way hinder her progress, any more than the thread of her domination which she continued to exercise as if nothing had happened on the restart.

The start of the second set was a bit trickier, however, for the Kazakhstani, trailing 2-0 by an Ostapenko who had suddenly decided to stop constantly whining against the electronic announcements to focus more on the ball. But Rybakina tightened the game again, she saved four more balls from 3-1 in a crucial fourth game which undoubtedly ended up tipping the game in her direction.

In the aftermath, the 2022 Wimbledon champion broke and then relied on her huge serve to race to a victory that will allow her to play in a second Grand Slam semi-final. It will face Jessica Pegula or Victoria Azarenka.