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Belarusian Sabalenka storms into 2026 Australian open semis with straight sets win

The 2026 Australian Open tournament is being played on hard courts at Melbourne Park between January 18 and February 1

SYDNEY, January 27. /TASS/. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus advanced to the semifinals of this year’s first Grand Slam series tournament, the 2026 Australian Open on Tuesday, defeating Iva Jovic from the United States.

The top-seeded Sabalenka, who is playing at the tournament under a neutral status, sailed past her 29th-seeded opponent in the quarterfinals with a confident straight sets win (6-3; 6-0).

Sabalenka, last year’s runner-up, will look to return to the final when she plays in the semifinals against 12th-seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, who cleared the quarterfinals on Tuesday also with a straight sets win over 3rd-seeded Coco Gauff from the United States 6-1; 6-2.

Sabalenka, 27, the WTA's top-ranked player, holds 22 WTA (the Women’s Tennis Association) titles and four Grand Slam titles (2023, 2024 Australian Open, 2024, 2025 US Open).

The 2026 Australian Open tournament is being played on hard courts at Melbourne Park between January 18 and February 1 and has a purse of some $75 million in prize money up for grabs. The season’s first Grand Slam, this year marks the 114th edition of the tournament. Italy’s Jannik Sinner and American Madison Keys are the reigning Australian Open champions in men’s and women’s singles, respectively.

Russian and Belarusian players’ neutral status at tennis tournaments

On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.

Following the IOC's recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations moved to exclude athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) ruled on March 1, 2022, to suspend the membership of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis federations while also canceling all previously scheduled tennis tournaments in the two countries.

On March 14, 2022, the ITF also confirmed its prohibition on the Russian and Belarusian national tennis teams from participating in the 2022 Davis Cup and the 2022 Billie Jean King Cup.

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