Australian Open 2023: Elena Rybakina, with family watching, into another Slam final

Melbourne: The conditions were far from perfect for the big hitters. It was windy, chilly, and the evening temperature had dipped to 15 degrees Celsius in Melbourne. Playing her first evening match of the fortnight, Elena Rybakina, who had struck 35 aces coming into the semi-final against Victoria Azarenka on Thursday, was finding the courts slower.

She had jointly struck the biggest serve of the Australian Open (among women) at 195 kmph but on the night, the best she produced was 189 kmph. Even more impressively, 53% of her first serves had gone unreturned. That dwindled to 42% as the balls got slower and the evening became bitter.

“Today it was a bit tougher for me because it was different conditions. I couldn’t play really aggressive tennis. The ball was not going so much,” she said.

A brilliant performance