Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka said that an umpire call against her for grunting helped fire her to victory over Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina on Thursday in a politically charged Australian Open semi-final. There was no handshake afterwards as top-ranked Sabalenka triumphed 6-2, 6-3 to roll into a fourth Melbourne final in a row. 

Rybakina in summit clash

She faces Kazakh fifth seed Elena Rybakina for her third Melbourne title. Rybakina fought her way into the title match by downing American sixth seed Jessica Pegula 6-3, 7-6 (9-7) in a one-hour -40-minute arm-wrestle.