1 hour ago
1
On the evidence of what Iga Swiatek showed across the first four rounds, it never truly felt like she would complete the career Grand Slam at this year's Australian Open.
Swiatek's bid for the clean sweep was ended by Elena Rybakina in the Melbourne quarter-finals, with the Kazakh fifth seed triumphing 7-5 6-1.
Reigning Wimbledon champion Swiatek's serve has been far from solid during the tournament, the Pole having won fewer games with the ball than any other quarter-finalist and being broken the most times alongside Coco Gauff.
Swiatek changed her service technique during the off-season, but the 24-year-old has historically struggled against aggressive opponents on the quicker Melbourne courts.
And former Wimbledon champion Rybakina, known for her big forehand and bigger serve, ruthlessly took advantage.
"I have some stuff I want to work on. It's never been so flawless for me playing on these courts, as they are fast," second seed Swiatek said.
Swiatek can already be ranked among the greats, having won six major titles across the three different surfaces.
Mastering the Wimbledon grass last year - a surface considered her weakest - meant she arrived in Melbourne attempting to become only the sixth woman in the Open era to win all four Grand Slam singles titles.
Swiatek insisted she was blocking out the outside noise about what was at stake but perhaps she did not fully believe she could win in Australia, given the changes to her serve and the conditions.
That doubt played perfectly into Rybakina's hands.
Rybakina could not initially find her rhythm on her serve, with an uncharacteristically low first-serve percentage of 41%, but she had enough pace and aggression in her groundstrokes to rush Swiatek.
That was demonstrated in the crucial 12th game. Rybakina fought back from 0-30 with deep returning and explosive winners to take the opener.
Rybakina immediately took control of the second set, her groundstrokes flying through the court, and Swiatek could do little to halt her momentum.
Rybakina, runner-up in 2023, will face American sixth seed Jessica Pegula in Thursday's semi-finals.
Pegula, 31, won 6-2 7-6 (7-1) against fourth seed Amanda Anisimova later on Wednesday.
It is the sixth Grand Slam since 2023 that the four women's semi-finalist have reached the last four without dropping a set. It previously only happened four times in the entire Open era.
