Novak Djokovic’s wife Jelena has sent a rare strong message of support to Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka after she advanced to the 2026 Australian Open women’s singles final. Sabalenka quickly defeated her semi-final opponent Elena Svitolina in the semi-finals and will now face Elena Rybakina for the Melbourne title.

On Thursday, January 29, the power and accuracy of the reigning world number one proved too much for Svitolina to handle. The semifinal showdown ended with Sabalenka winning comprehensively, 6-2, 6-3. Following the results, the four-time Grand Slam singles champion shared a post on her Instagram consisting of three photos and a video of her last four wins. She captioned the post:

“Final sprint 🤫@australianopen”

Subsequently, Novak Djokovic’s wife Jelena Enter a comment and support Alina Sabalenka Winning the Australian Open women’s singles championship for the third time, she wrote:

“Let’s go!!!💪💪💪👑👑👑👑”

Sabalenka and Rybakina competed in the 2023 final in Melbourne, with the Belarusian winning after tying the score. In 2024, she defeated Zheng Qinwen in the final and successfully defended her title. Sabalenka also reached the final last year, but ended up finishing second to Madison Keys, who unexpectedly emerged as champion.

“Elena Rybakina and I have a great history” – Aryna Sabalenka on Australian Open final opponent from Kazakhstan

Following her victory over Elena Svitolina in the women’s singles semi-finals Australian Open 2026Aryna Sabalenka attends the post-match press conference. Here, the Belarusian was asked about playing against Elena Rybakina in the final. Sabalenka praised Rybakina’s hitting skills and recalled her past clashes with the big-serving Kazakh, saying:

“I think she hits the ball hard, deep, flat and not easy to use. We have a great history. She’s an unbelievable player. We’ve had a lot of great battles… We’ve been in a lot of finals. If it’s her, I’m looking forward to playing against that kind of power.”

Aryna Sabalenka went head-to-head with Elena Rybakina, leading 8-6. However, in their most recent encounter, the 2025 WTA Finals final in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the 2022 Wimbledon champion from Kazakhstan won 6-3 and 7-6 (0), winning the year-end event for the first time in his career.