Sabalenka into fourth straight Australian Open final and facing Rybakina again
Melbourne (AP): Not even a point penalty for hindrance slowed Aryna Sabalenka's run to a fourth consecutive Australian Open final.
The top-ranked Sabalenka overpowered Elina Svitolina 6-2, 6-3 Thursday night to move within one victory of a third Australian Open title in four years.
A rematch of the 2023 final against Elena Rybakina was set up when the No. 5 seed ousted No. 6 Jessica Pegula 6-3, 7-6 (7) in the second semifinal.
“It was a great battle (against Sabalenka in 2023),” Rybakina said. “In the end, she played a bit better and it was well deserved. I want to enjoy the final and hopefully I can serve better than today. I am so excited.”
Her semifinal was mostly one way until Rybakina had match point. The 2022 Wimbledon champion missed three match points on Pegula's serve and then was broken twice while serving for the match.
Pegula rallied and had two set points in the tiebreaker but wasn't able to convert, and Rybakina finally clinched it 29 minutes after her first match point.
“Really, really stressful,” Rybakina said. She admitted to flashbacks from the 2024 Open when she lost the longest women's tiebreaker ever at a Grand Slam to Anna Blinkova 22-20 in a three-set defeat.
“I'm proud no matter the situation. It got very tight, I stayed there," she said of the win over Pegula. "I was fighting for each point.”
All four players reached the semifinals without dropping a set — in Australia for the first time in 56 years — and Sabalenka and Svitolina were each on 10-match winning streaks to start the season after titles in warmup events.
Sabalenka kept both of her streaks alive. She hit 19 winners and broke Svitolina's serve twice in the first set. She finished with 29 winners to 12 for her Ukrainian rival.
As has become customary for Ukrainians against players from Russia and Belarus, there was no handshakes at the net. There was also no group photo before the match.
Sabalenka is the third woman in the Open era to reach four consecutive singles finals at the Australian Open after Evonne Goolagong and Martina Hingis.
“It's an incredible achievement but the job's not done yet,” an emotional Sabalenka said in her on-court TV interview. “I've been watching her game, (Svitolina) was playing incredible. I felt like I had to step in and put as much pressure as I could back on her. I'm glad the level was there. I think I played great tennis.”
The hindrance call
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The only hiccup was the hindrance to start the fourth game. Hindrance is called for a distraction that prevents a player from making a shot, and can include an opponent's loud noise.
Umpire Louise Azemar Engzell deemed Sabalenka made a prolonged grunt after she shanked a forehand. The shot seemed to be going long but landed inside the baseline, giving Svitolina the chance to play on. That's when the umpire intervened.
Sabalenka asked for a video review but, after going to the tape, Azemar Engzell confirmed her decision that the grunt was more elongated than usual.
It didn't hurt Sabalenka. She broke serve in that game.
“That's actually never happened to me ... especially with my grunting,” Sabalenka said. “Then she called it, and I was, like, What? What is wrong with you?'”
Sabalenka said it aggravated her but worked as motivation.
“It actually helped me — I was more aggressive. I was not happy with the call, and it really helped me to get that game,” Sabalenka said. She added with a laugh, “So if she (Azemar Engzell) ever wants to do it again — like, I want to make sure that she's not afraid of it — go ahead, call it. It's going to help me.”
Svitolina's exit
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After reaching her first semifinal in Australia and winning a title in a warmup tournament in New Zealand, Svitolina will return to the top 10 for the first time since she took a maternity break in 2022.
The Auckland title was her first foray back on tour after an early end to the 2025 season for a mental health break. She said the rest and time out prolonged her career.
“Definitely very, very happy with the two weeks here and in New Zealand, as well, winning,” she said. “Gutted to not make it through tonight but it's very difficult when you're playing the world No. 1, who is really on fire.”
Svitolina was playing her fourth semifinal at a major — 2019 and 2023 at Wimbledon and the 2019 U.S. Open — but again wasn't able to go to the championship match.
“It was really complicated for me today,” she said, “but, yeah, I just want to take positives from the past weeks, the beginning of the year, and just carry them through for the season.”
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Gandhi a way of thinking which ideology of hate unsuccessfully tried to erase: Rahul
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said Mahatma Gandhi is not just a person, but a way of thinking that an empire, an ideology of hatred and arrogance of power unsuccessfully tried to erase at different points in time.
Terming Mahatma Gandhi the "immortal soul of India", the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha paid tributes to the Father of the Nation on his death anniversary, saying that along with Independence, he gave the nation a fundamental principle that the power of truth is greater than the power of authority.
"Mahatma Gandhi is not just a person, but a way of thinking that an empire, an ideology of hatred, and an arrogance of power have all unsuccessfully tried to erase at different points in time," he said in a post in Hindi on X.
"The Father of the Nation gave us, along with Independence, the fundamental principle that the power of truth is greater than the power of authority and that non-violence and courage are greater than violence and fear," Rahul Gandhi said.
This way of thinking cannot be extinguished, because Gandhi is immortal in the soul of India, he added.
Rahul Gandhi also paid floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Gandhi Smriti at Tees January Marg here on Martyrs' Day, remembering the life and sacrifice of the Father of the Nation.
"His legacy of truth, courage, and compassion continues to guide our path and remind us of an India we must keep striving for -- just, harmonious, and united," the former Congress chief said in a Facebook post.
Sharing lines of a Bhajan that Mahatma Gandhi used to sing, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, "The hatred that separated us from Bapu, its solution also lies in Bapu's path. The light of truth, the power of non-violence, and the compassion of love. Homage to the Father of the Nation on Martyr's Day."
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi on his death anniversary.
Party general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, recalled two separate letters written by Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in 1948 to Syama Prasad Mookerjee, in which they strongly criticised and raised questions on the activities of the Hindu Mahasabha and the RSS.
"Both are damning indictments of the self-declared custodians of nationalism. And to think that there is a Lok Sabha MP wedded to that ideology and who was blessed by the PM himself, who said that he could not choose between Gandhi and Godse. His mindset is revealing," Ramesh said on X, in an apparent reference to BJP MP Abhijit Gangopadhyay's controversial remarks in 2024.
Ramesh also shared a link to Nehru's address on All India Radio on the night of January 30, 1948, after Mahatma Gandhi's assassination.
In his letter to Mookerjee, Nehru had said the Hindu Mahasabha had held meetings in Pune, Ahmednagar and Delhi in defiance of the ban order.
"Speeches were delivered that Mahatma Gandhi was an impediment, and the sooner he died, the better it would be for the country. The RSS has behaved in an even worse way, and we have collected a mass of information about its very objectionable activities," Nehru had said in his letter.
Ramesh also shared a screenshot of Patel's letter to Mookerjee in which the former criticised the activities of the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha.
Paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi, Congress general secretary in charge of the organisation, K C Venugopal, said that on this day in 1948, the greatest soul to ever guide India and the world was "snatched away from us".
"Today, on Martyrs Day, let's remember Bapu's eternal teachings of Satya and Ahimsa, and warn ourselves of the culture of hate and violence that gave rise to his assassins," he said on X.
"In 2026, the threat remains of their ideological descendants eager to wipe out Gandhiji from our national consciousness. Repeatedly, we see those in the ruling regime evangelise his killers, encourage hate, and are now erasing entire schemes named after Mahatma Gandhi," Venugopal said.
The powers that be may have a delusion that they will succeed in diminishing Bapu through such acts, he said. "But Mahatma Gandhi and his values are deeply embedded in India's psyche, and no amount of effort from those who oppose him can ever succeed in erasing his towering legacy.
Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse on this day in 1948. India observes the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi as Martyrs' Day to honour the life and legacy of the nation's foremost leader and his ultimate sacrifice for peace, justice, and freedom.
महात्मा गांधी एक व्यक्ति नहीं, एक सोच हैं - वह सोच जिसे कभी एक साम्राज्य ने, कभी एक नफ़रत की विचारधारा ने और कभी अहंकारी सत्ता ने मिटाने की असफल कोशिश की।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) January 30, 2026
मगर राष्ट्रपिता ने हमें आज़ादी के साथ यह मूलमंत्र दिया कि सत्ता की ताक़त से बड़ी सत्य की शक्ति होती है - और हिंसा व भय से… pic.twitter.com/Hm1frzS3jW
