Preview: Australian Open: Elena Rybakina vs. Iga Swiatek - prediction, head-to-head, tournament so far

Two former Grand Slam champions face off on Wednesday, as in-form Elena Rybakina takes on Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open for a place in the semis.

The world No. 5 has yet to drop a set en route to the last-eight tussle, while career Grand Slam-chasing Swiatek has put her United Cup blues behind her to reach a sixth consecutive quarter-final at a Major, becoming the youngest since Serena Williams to achieve the feat.

Match preview

Eyebrows were raised after Rybakina’s 13-match winning streak was halted by Karolina Muchova in Brisbane, with observers monitoring the Kazakhstani star’s response.

The former world No. 3 has played pretty commendably at Melbourne Park since the start of the maiden Slam of the year, defeating all four opponents in straight sets without breaking a sweat.

Although she has benefitted from playing three opponents outside the top 50 — Kaja Juvan is No. 100 in the world, Varvara Gracheva is No. 77 and Tereza Valentova is No. 54 — the hard-hitting 26-year-old dominated every encounter before another commanding victory over No. 21-ranked Elise Mertens on Monday, dropping just four games in the 6-1, 6-3 success.

The upshot of that triumph in one hour and 17 minutes gives Rybakina another shot at a semi-final berth at the Aussie Open, where she is a one-time finalist.

The 26-year-old’s run to the title match in 2023 ended with a crushing three-set defeat against the finest women’s star on hard courts these days — Aryna Sabalenka — but she seeks another shot at glory Down Under.

Having exited in the second round 12 months after falling to Sabalenka and in the last 16 in 2025, Rybakina is two wins away from another chance of claiming a second Grand Slam to follow her 2022 triumph at Wimbledon.

First, the 11-time WTA champion must defeat a motivated Swiatek and win her potential semi-final against Jessica Pegula or Amanda Anisimova to come within one victory of righting the wrongs of 2023.

Facing Swiatek will present a different test entirely for the world No. 5, with the Polish superstar moving on from psychological body-blow defeats to Coco Gauff and Belinda Bencic at the United Cup to reach another last-eight match at a Major.

At 24 years, Swiatek’s feat saw her emulate Williams — between Roland Garros 2002 and Wimbledon 2003 — as the youngest player to progress to as many consecutive quarter-finals, and she seeks a return to the semis Down Under.

Like Rybakina, who lost in three sets to Madison Keys in the second round 12 months ago, Swiatek’s run to the semi-finals ended in disappointment to the eventual champion, in what was one of the finest matches of the year on the WTA Tour.

The Polish superstar’s 2025 progress not only matched her 2022 achievements, but it also ended a two-year sequence of exiting in the fourth and third rounds, and the 24-year-old, chasing a career Grand Slam, hopes to improve her 7-2 win-loss start to 2026.

Advancing to this stage has not come without its challenges: the second seed spent two hours on court against qualifier Yuan Yue in the opening round, while she was taken to three sets in a third-round victory over Anna Kalinskaya, defeating the Russian in one hour and 44 minutes.

While that raises doubts on the one hand, glass-half-full observers will argue that the six-time Grand Slam champion is far more battle-tested than Rybakina heading into their 12th meeting on the women’s tour.

Tournament so far

Elena Rybakina:

First round: vs. Kaja Juvan 6-4 6-3

Second round: vs. Varvara Gracheva 7-5 6-2

Third round: vs. Tereza Valentova 6-2 6-3

Round of 16: vs. Elise Mertens 6-1 6-3

Iga Swiatek:

First round: vs. Yue Yuan 7-6(5) 6-3

Second round: vs. Marie Bouzkova 6-2 6-3

Third round: vs. Anna Kalinskaya 6-1 1-6 6-1

Round of 16: vs. Maddison Inglis 6-0 6-3

Head To Head

WTA Finals (2025) - Round Robin: Rybakina 3-6 6-1 6-0

Cincinnati (2025) - Semi-final: Swiatek 7-5 6-3

French Open (2025) - Fourth round: Swiatek 1-6 6-3 7-5

Doha (2025) - Quarter-final: Swiatek 6-2 7-5

United Cup (2025) - Semi-final: Swiatek 7-6(5) 6-4

Stuttgart (2024) - Semi-final: Rybakina 6-4 4-6 6-3

Doha (2024) - Final: Swiatek 7-6(8) 6-2

Rome (2023) - Quarter-final: Rybakina 2-6 7-6(3) 2-2 ret

Indian Wells (2023) - Semi-final: Rybakina 6-2 6-2

Australian Open (2023) - Fourth round: Rybakina 6-4 6-4

Ostrava (2021) - Quarter-final: Swiatek 7-6(5) 6-2

While Rybakina led 4-2 ahead of last season, Swiatek reeled off four consecutive wins over the one-time Slam champion to take a 6-4 lead in their rivalry.

However, the 2022 Wimbledon champion crushed the second seed at the WTA Finals in Riyadh, where she responded to a first-set loss by dropping just one more game en route to a 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 success.

It remains to be seen if that success turns the tide again in this rivalry, which has witnessed a previous meeting Down Under, where Rybakina won in straight sets during her run to the 2023 title match.

Swiatek, however, leads their overall meetings on hard courts 5-3 and is seeking a sixth success at the expense of the former world No. 3.

We say: Rybakina to win in three sets

A motivated Swiatek is probably the worst opponent to face, but Rybakina has looked comparatively more assured en route to another quarter-final in Melbourne Park.

The 2022 Wimbledon champion has been serving at a high level and has been incredibly ruthless on return, standing her in good stead against the world No. 2.

Having won seven consecutive matches against top-10 opponents entering Wednesday’s contest and 11-5 in the last 52 weeks, she is also superior to the Pole, who holds a 7-8 record in the last year against the elite, losing five of six ahead of Wednesday.

Thus, Rybakina is expected to take down the world No. 2 and advance to her second semi-final at the Aussie Open, where Pegula or Anisimova await.