It may have taken her three long years, but Elena Rybakina is back in the Australian Open final.
MORE: All the scores from Day 12 at AO 2026
The world No.5 from Kazakhstan packed too much punch early in Thursday night’s women’s semifinal against Jessica Pegula before prevailing in a battle against her own nerves late to triumph 6-3 7-6(7) in one hour and 40 minutes.
"Really happy with the win today," Rybakina said. "In the second set it was a very tough one, but I'm happy it went my way. I think I've improved throughout the whole tournament.
"I think for me it's important that I started this tournament maybe not at my best form, but throughout the tournament it improved, and I played better each match."
Rybakina will face Aryna Sabalenka – who beat her in three sets for the AO 2023 title – to decide who will take home the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup.
MORE: AO 2026 women's singles draw
Rybakina was made to sweat by the plucky Pegula, who saved three match points while serving at 3-5 down in the second set.
Rybakina tightened noticeably, then did so again when she almost frittered away a 4-2 edge in the tiebreak.
Pegula claimed four of the next five points – capped by an overhead smash – to create a set point of her own, which would have squared the match.
As she suddenly lost scoreboard control, Rybakina admits her mind went back to the second round at AO 2024 when she succumbed to Anna Blinkova in an epic 22-20 third-set tiebreak, the longest in Grand Slam history in total points.
On that occasion, Blinkova claimed victory on her 10th match point after saving six of Rybakina's.
"It was really really stressful," Rybakina said. "I had an epic tiebreak here a couple years ago. I lost it.
"I think it was the longest (any) woman (has) played, and a little flashback came."
But fittingly, it was Rybakina's thunderous power which got her home.
At 7-all, she cracked her sixth ace to set up her fourth match point – almost half an hour after her first – before finally finishing the job when she thumped a meek second serve from Pegula with a down-the-line backhand.
Rybakina, who is seeking her second Grand Slam title after winning Wimbledon in 2022, has yet to drop a set at Melbourne Park this fortnight.
The 26-year-old Kazakh set an ominous early tone, holding to love before breaking to 30.
Rybakina lost just six points on serve in the opening set, despite only getting half her first entries in.
She earned herself several freebies as her famed first serve boasted too much clout, her second serve too much kick.
The sixth-seeded Pegula, so fast out of the blocks in her quarterfinal triumph over fellow American Amanda Anisimova, lacked that same sharpness as Rybakina thrived in the cooler, pacey conditions.
By the time Pegula settled, the opening set was already out of reach, eventually sealed in 32 minutes on a sizzling Rybakina crosscourt forehand.
Pegula cut a despondent figure when she was broken in the third game of the second, but the 31-year-old from New York broke back immediately when presented with her first break-point opportunity.
Both players struggled to hold serve as the second set progressed, Pegula broken at 5-all, but Rybakina unable to close, spraying a wild forehand to force a tiebreak.
Ultimately, the match was decided on Rybakina’s racquet, the Kazakh producing 31 winners to Pegula’s 14.
Pegula’s best Australian Open campaign – after three consecutive quarterfinal appearances from 2021 to 2023 – came to an end under the weight of her opponent’s devastating firepower.