Iga Swiatek’s bid to finish the profession Grand Slam at this 12 months’s Australian Open was ended by Kazakh fifth seed Elena Rybakina within the quarter-finals.
Reigning Wimbledon champion Swiatek misplaced 7-5 6-1 as Rybakina used her energy to devastating impact.
Swiatek, 24, can already be ranked among the many greats, having gained six main titles throughout all three completely different surfaces.
Mastering the Wimbledon grass final 12 months – a floor thought-about her weakest – opened the door to making an attempt in Melbourne to turn into solely the sixth lady within the Open period to win all 4 main titles.
Earlier than the match, Swiatek acknowledged the achievement could be a “dream come true” however insisted she was blocking out the skin noise about what was at stake.
The faster courts at Melbourne Park have traditionally led to Swiatek dealing with issues towards aggressive opponents there.
Rybakina exploited that ruthlessly in Wednesday’s contest.
The 26-year-old, whose solely main triumph thus far got here at Wimbledon in 2022, couldn’t discover rhythm along with her serve in a primary set which began with the pair exchanging breaks.
A low first-serve proportion of 41% was uncharacteristic, however Rybakina had sufficient tempo and aggression in her groundstrokes to hurry Swiatek.
That was demonstrated within the essential twelfth recreation, when Rybakina broke once more to take the opening set.
Momentum stayed with Rybakina as she rapidly took management of the second set.
In excellent 22C sunny circumstances following Tuesday’s heatwave, her groundstrokes continued to fly via the courtroom and Swiatek was unable to resolve the issue dealing with her.
