Australian Open: Elena Rybakina beats Victoria Azarenka to reach final 

Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina reached another major final as she beat two-time winner Victoria Azarenka in the Australian Open semi-finals.

Rybakina, 23, won 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 to end Azarenka’s hopes of winning the title 10 years after her last triumph.

The Kazakh regained her composure in a nervy end to the first set before confidently dominating the second.

She will play either Belarusian fifth seed Aryna Sabalenka or unseeded Pole Magda Linette in Saturday’s final.

The pair followed Rybakina and Azarenka – who is also from Belarus – on to court in Thursday’s second semi-final at Melbourne Park.

“I’m super happy to be in the final and play one more time here,” said 22nd seed Rybakina, who will contest her second major final.

“It was different conditions, I couldn’t play aggressive tennis and couldn’t go so much for my shots but I was happy to win.

“I got a lot of experience from Wimbledon and I want to come on court [for the final] and enjoy the moment.”

BBC/Emmanuel Ukoh