The Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka (5th) reached the maximum consecration of the Australian Open this Saturday, reaching the first ‘Great’ of her career
the belarusian Aryna Sabalenka (5th of the WTA) logrón his first Grand Slam title after beating the Kazakh Elena Rybakina (25th) in the final of the Australian Open by a tight 4-6, 6-3 y 6-4after two hours and 28 minutes of fighting.
“I want to apologize for my English because I’m still shaking with nerves. She is a great player and I hope to face her in more Grand Slam finals. Of course we will have many more battles, ”she said during the trophy presentation.
The Minsk tennis player, who connected 17 direct aces, put the finishing touch off to a flawless Australian tourin which he won the title in Adelaide and the first ‘major’ of the season, after giving up just one set in the final of this last tournament.
A double fault by the Belarusian opened a final that was played under the clouds that covered a Rod Laver Arena with hundreds of empty seats in the upper ring.
The match continued with the expected script, after each one scored three direct aces in the first three games of a first set with few long exchanges.
The ghosts of a recent past embittered by double faults peeked through the head of a Sabalenka who let slip the first service game of the match.
The ‘aces’ kept happening and the score reached 3-4, with a Sabalenka who had not quite found her rhythm with the second serve, and resorted to a first serve instead despite the risk it entailed.
She managed to break Sabalenka back to make it 4-4, and her problems with double faults helped the reigning Wimbledon champion to sign up a ‘counter-break’ that led the subsequent 4-6.
The negative note of the first set for the Belarusian was a poor second servewith whom 33% of the disputed points were scored, and with whom he committed five double faults.
The start was doubtful in a second that started with serious problems for the fifth seed when it came to closing her serve but, after saving two break points, she arranged a first game to get ahead for the first time at the match.
Her nervousness faded as she was able to use her second serve to open the court and start the point ahead, stealing a game off serve from a Rybakina who began to pay the physical exhaustion by lowering its incidence with direct kicks.
With the 5-3, the two players delighted the public of a Rod Laver Arena that was attended by the actor Russell Crowe and the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Sabalenka closed with a spectacular ‘ace’ with his second service, a set that ended with seven direct aces and only one double fault, which contrasted with the five in the first set.
The clash acquired an aroma of a decisive moment and both tennis players frowned, and increased their concentration on the serve, to arrive with more options at the end of lifting the title.
With the 3-3, the new world number two He stepped up to the rest and made a crucial break in what was his second chance to ‘break’ in the game, to impose a 4-3 in his favor.
The nerves flourished again, in the same way as at the start of the clash, and the champion Sabalenka he needed four match points to close a match that ended after a long right from Rybakina.
Sabalenka won the duel for becoming the best puncher on the circuit and corroborated it with her 17 aces and 51 winners.
With his victory in a Grand Slam, he confirmed his emergence in a WTA Olympus that has threatened his presence in the top-10 for the last five years, as well as his participation in three ‘major’ semifinals.
The Minsk tennis player enters a year that could bring her closer to a first world position that moves away by almost 4,000 points, after winning her first eleven matches of this young 2023.