Effortless serve, icy composure: Elena Rybakina stuns Swiatek, eyes maiden Australian Open title

Former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan stormed into the semi-final of the Australian Open 2026 on Wednesday with a surprise win over world No 2 Iga Swiatek. Elena Rybakina won 7-5, 6-1 against the six-time Grand Slam winner Swiatek, who has never won the Australian Open.

Rybakina's best result at the Australian Open is reaching a final in 2023, and she would hope to repeat that at least. But considering her top form, one cannot rule out the possibility of the 26-year-old winning the "Happy Grand Slam."

Rybakina stuns Swiatek in Aus Open quarters

Rybakina has won 18 of her last 19 matches. She hasn't lost a set in the 2026 Australian Open, and the victory over Swiatek was her eighth straight win against a top-10 player. What also adds to her repertoire is her strong serve, which is currently the best in women's tennis.

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After beating Swiatek, Rybakina hoped her "effortless" serve would keep serving her well in the next two matches as she hopes to win her second major trophy.

"Really happy with the last few matches. It has been challenging with the sun, but finding a way. For now, the serve is really working, so hopefully I can continue like this," Rybakina said.

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While she didn't drop a set, it was not an easy match by any stretch of the imagination. Swiatek gave a tough fight in the first set before losing the momentum in the second.

"Really pleased with the win. Thank you for supporting and coming. It's a really great atmosphere. We know each other pretty well. I was just trying to stay aggressive. I guess in the first set, the first serve was not working, so we were trying to step up with the second serve and put pressure on each other. In the second set, I just started to play more freely, serve better and was really happy with the win."

What also helped Rybakina in a big game was her calm demeanour, something that sets her apart from her contemporaries. For Rybakina, it isn’t deliberate but her default way of functioning.

“Pretty calm outside of the court, too. I can be fun too with close people. I’m trying not to show too much frustration if something is not going well. I think it’s just my character.”