Elena Rybakina stormed to her first Australian Open final with a 7-6(4) 6-3 victory over twice champion Victoria Azarenka on Thursday and the Russian-born Kazakh will face Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka after the fifth seed beat Magda Linette 7-6(1) 6-2.

Wimbledon champion Rybakina wore down Azarenka in a contest that was cagey early on and had some wild momentum swings before she dominated her opponent on Rod Laver Arena to prevail.

Rybakina held her nerve as 24th seed Azarenka foundered in a messy first set tiebreak then dropped serve twice to fall 5-2 behind in the second.

The Kazakh was broken as she served for the set but Azarenka double-faulted to concede three match points in the next game.

“I’m super happy and proud. Without my team it would be difficult to be here so thanks a lot to them,” Moscow-born Rybakina, Kazakhstan’s first Grand Slam champion, said on court.

“It was difficult conditions, I couldn’t play offensive tennis but I’m happy I managed to win.”

Sabalenka joined the 22nd seed in the final after dismissing Linette following a cold start on a chilly evening on the main showcourt, as the 24-year-old reached her first Grand Slam final after three previous semi-final defeats.

The victory also extended Sabalenka’s winning run this year to 10 matches following her successful march to the Adelaide title which warmed her up nicely for the season’s first major.

“I’m super happy that I was able to get this win and she’s an unbelievable player,” Sabalenka said of Linette. “She played really great tennis. The atmosphere was unbelievable.

“Just being in the final in this kind of tournament is amazing. To feel this atmosphere, to play on this court it’s a great experience for me and I hope it’s going to help tomorrow. Sorry, Saturday.”

Power serve

Rybakina’s serve has propelled her through the tournament, and she clubbed nine aces earlier against Azarenka.

But she double-faulted on the first point of the match, raising a low gasp from the terraces.

They needn’t have worried. She thumped down three consecutive aces to hold and then served out to love in her next effort.

Rybakina wobbled when serving out the match, a double-fault coughing up three break points and opening the door for Azarenka.

But any hopes of a comeback slipped away as Azarenka imploded on serve.

“It’s kind of hard to digest, obviously,” a gloomy Azarenka told reporters, wearing sunglasses at her post-match media conference.

“I cannot really say I’m really proud of how I played.”

Novak dad

Controversy broke out after a video appeared showing Novak Djokovic’s father posing for pictures with fans holding Russian flags. The organisers have banned Russian and Belarusian flags from the event after a complaint from the Ukraine embassy in Australia