Elena Rybakina's ruthless passage to the decider at the Brisbane International has underlined her headline status 12 months after the then Wimbledon champion was relegated to the Australian Open outside courts.
The Kazakh world No.4 has spent less than four hours on court in a quartet of Brisbane International matches this week, booking her finals berth with a clinical 6-3 6-2 defeat of Czech teen Linda Noskova on Saturday.
It sets up a rematch of last year's Australian Open final against Aryna Sabalenka, who beat Belarusian compatriot Victoria Azarenka 6-2 6-4 in the other semi-final later on Saturday at Pat Rafter Arena.
The 24-year-old Rybakina began her rousing 2023 campaign at Melbourne Park as the freshly minted All England champion on the tiny court 13.
It's doubtful last year's Australian Open runner-up will need to navigate her way back to the outside courts this time around.
"Honestly, I don't think about this so much, but back then everything was new for me," she said on Saturday of her surprise first-round scheduling snub.
"In the beginning, I expected something different, but now it doesn't matter. I just want to win as much as I can."
Rybakina, untouchable on serve in Brisbane this week, believes she belongs in the conversation with the sport's heavy hitters.
"There's lots of good players, but I'm lucky I'm tall and have this dominating game," she said.
"Physically it gives me a good chance, but there's lots of good players and we're all pushing each other."
Sabalenka presents a significant challenge on Sunday, the world No.2 storming through to the last four in similar fashion to the Moscow-born Rybakina then defying Azarenka in a high-quality semi-final.
The pair have played seven times, Sabalenka winning five of those matches with only two not extending to three sets.
"I know much more about her game and she knows about mine also," Rybakina said of a rivalry that blossomed last year.
"That (Australian Open) final; she played really well, stayed aggressive, especially on her second serve.
"It was such a close match. It's not easy to lose a final but I still thought it wasn't my best.
"It's a bit easy to forget about some losses, I'm still not that old and hopefully (there's more chances to come)."
Danish world No.8 Holger Rune is one win away from a fifth ATP title, the top seed brilliant in a second-set tiebreak after Russian Roman Safiullin looked poised to extend their match to a third.
The 20-year-old prevailed 6-4 7-6 (7-0) and will play the winner of Australia's Jordan Thompson, who beat Rafael Nadal on Friday night, and second seed Grigor Dimitrov.
