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Aryna Sabalenka, the fifth-ranked player in the world, defeated Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open final with scores of 4-6, 6-3, and 6-4 on Saturday to win her first Grand Slam championship.
The new champion of the Australian Open, Aryna Sabalenka, won this title by outclassing Elena Rybakina, a competitor who stepped up to the challenge.
The Belarusian lost her first set after starting tentatively and making double errors in a crucial match between the greatest server in the competition and the player with the most victories, but she found her best game to rally.
With nine direct aces compared to 17 for the Belarusian, Rybakina's serve was less lethal than usual. Despite this, she still managed to move up from 23rd to 10th place in the global rankings. The match between the two gunners was, as was to be expected, full of quick points, with just 14 lengthy rallies and seven aces in the first 13 points.
After Sabalenka blew an 0-40 lead with a double fault and two balls that went wide to the right, Rybakina became the first player to break the tie at 1-1 in a match where every break was valuable.
At 4-3, the Belarusian showed signs of aggression with a slam into the net that she celebrated with one of her roars. She then made her first break of the game, enabling her to tie the score at 4-4 in the set before dropping her subsequent serve after receiving two double fault penalties.
Although it was challenging for her, Sabalenka eventually started to feel comfortable on the court, decreasing her errors and finding the lines with her shots. With a break to make it 3-1 in the second set, her roar resounded once more. This time she did not miss it despite committing her final double fault of the match.
The advantage emboldened this strong force, who started to press every serve that Rybakina could not adjust for and launch her forehands at nearly 150 km/h. Even though she missed multiple opportunities to break, that break was sufficient for her to win the set with two straight "aces."
The Belarusian entered the final set with a lot of assurance and finished it at 3-3. Rybakina successfully defended two break points, but on the third, the Belarusian struck back, causing Rybakina to essentially go down. The Belarusian then won the point with a forehand.
It was challenging for her to win her first Grand Slam final, but on her fourth match point in Melbourne, a Rybakina forehand went wide, awarding the triumph to Sabalenka, who broke down in tears on the blue track.
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