TIE-Breakfast - 01/30 Australian Open

Good morning and welcome back to TIE-Breakfast.

The morning briefing from Ace Cream that tells you everything you need to know before starting your day.

Today is Friday, January 30, in Melbourne it's 6:30 PM and it's 27 degrees. Alright, let's go.

Today's breakfast

• 🇧🇾 Sabalenka in the final for the fourth consecutive year
• 🇰🇿 Rybakina saves three match points and joins her rival
• 🇪🇸 Alcaraz-Zverev in progress: the Spaniard ahead but with physical issues
• 🇮🇹 Sinner-Djokovic coming up for the other semifinal

WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY:

🇧🇾 Sabalenka In The Final For The Fourth Consecutive Year

Aryna Sabalenka defeated Elina Svitolina 6-2, 6-3 in 76 minutes, reaching her fourth consecutive Australian Open final.

This stat tells more than any tactical analysis: since 1997, when Martina Hingis started her streak, no player had managed to reach four consecutive finals in Melbourne. Before her, only Evonne Goolagong Cawley had done it in the seventies. Sabalenka finished with 29 winners to 12, a ratio that explains well how Svitolina, despite coming off an extraordinary week culminating in the victory over Gauff, never really found a way into the match.

🇰🇿 Rybakina Makes Life Difficult But Finds The Final

Elena Rybakina defeated Jessica Pegula 6-3, 7-6(7) in one hour and forty minutes, after squandering three match points at 5-3 in the second set.

There's something interesting about the way Rybakina handles moments of tension, or rather the way she sometimes seems not to handle them at all. Three match points wasted while serving for the match, two consecutive breaks conceded, and then a tiebreak where she saved two set points against Pegula before closing it out. Tennis is also made of these matches, the ones that on paper seem controlled but on court tell a completely different story. Pegula leaves the tournament with the feeling of having had her chance, Rybakina with the awareness that something different will be needed in the final.

IN PROGRESS:

🇪🇸 Alcaraz-Zverev: The Spaniard Ahead But With Physical Issues

Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev are playing the first men's semifinal at Rod Laver Arena. The current score has Alcaraz up two sets to love (6-4, 7-6) with the third set in progress.

The match has already offered moments of great tennis and plot twists. Alcaraz won the first set 6-4 after a balanced start, then in the second found himself down 2-5 before staging an extraordinary comeback to close it in the tiebreak. In the third set, however, the Spaniard began showing physical problems: discomfort in his adductors forced him to call a medical timeout, with Zverev visibly annoyed by the situation, convinced it's just cramps. Alcaraz continues to play, but with obvious movement difficulties. The match is still in progress as we write.

WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY:

• Jannik Sinner (2) vs Novak Djokovic (4) - Evening session at Rod Laver Arena, from 9:30 AM CET (7:30 PM local). The defending champion seeks his third consecutive final in Melbourne, a milestone only Djokovic has achieved in the modern era. Sinner has won the last five head-to-head meetings against the Serbian, but Djokovic arrives in the semifinal with fresh legs after two consecutive retirements by opponents. At 38, the Serbian chases his 25th Slam and 11th Australian title.
• Women's final tomorrow - Sabalenka and Rybakina will face off Saturday at 9:30 AM CET for the title, in a rematch of the 2023 final won by the Belarusian. Both reached the final without dropping a set, something that hadn't happened in a Slam since 2008.

Further reading

• Australian Open: Rybakina makes life difficult, but beats Pegula in two sets. Final against Sabalenka
• Sabalenka Into Fourth Straight Australian Open Final and Facing Rybakina Again
• Everything you need to know about the Australian Open finals

Enjoy your breakfast and have a great day.

See you tomorrow at 8:30 AM with TIE-Breakfast