An Aryna spectacular: Sabalenka stuns from a set down to win the Australian Open
The new-and-improved Aryna Sabalenka is complete.
Once derided as a perennial grand slam underachiever, the Belarusian bludgeoner is now a major champion, recovering from a set down to defeat Elena Rybakina 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in an Australian Open women’s final packed with brute force.
Sabalenka will rise to the world No.2 ranking, behind only Polish superstar Iga Swiatek, and collects almost $3 million for winning a gripping match befitting a final.
“Thank you so much for an amazing atmosphere. It was enjoyable to play in front of you,” Sabalenka said.
“Of course, my team [is] the craziest team on tour, I would say. We have been through a lot of downs last year, but we worked so much. You guys deserve this trophy. It is more about you than it is me. Thank you. I love you.
“I hope next year I will come back stronger, and I show you even better tennis and you guys support me once more.”
An ecstatic Aryna Sabalenka with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup.Credit:Eddie Jim
Sabalenka needed four championship points to complete victory in a tense final game in which reigning Wimbledon champion Rybakina earned a break-back point, only for the Belarusian to save it with another huge first serve.
An emotional Sabalenka fell to the Rod Laver Arena surface in disbelief as Rybakina’s final forehand sailed long, shedding tears of joy as the moment gradually sunk in.
She thundered 51 winners to Rybakina’s 31 as they traded big blows in a match-up that lived up to the billing.
Sabalenka began to correct her grand slam reputation with three semi-finals in her previous five majors before lobbing in Australia this summer, the scene of her extreme serving yips 12 months ago.
Not only was that nightmare behind her, but the 24-year-old had learned, she told us, to better control the emotions that got the better of her so many times in the past.
Saturday night’s final encapsulated the transformation Sabalenka has undergone as she fought not only nerves in the early going, but again a faltering serve.
She absorbed the disappointment of losing her first set of the tournament, then produced two sets of sustained power-hitting under relentless pressure. If hitting big failed her on one point, she went bigger again on the next – and it mostly paid off.
Rybakina made the better start, breaking Sabalenka from 40-0 in the third game – a double fault by the Belarusian playing a role in her fate – but had to weather a predictable storm.
Sabalenka settled after her nerve-riddled opening and loomed ominously when she crushed a backhand past Rybakina to lock the first set at four-all.
But her serve, such a significant talking point after shaking her yips from a year ago, let her down as she committed a fifth double fault to immediately hand back the advantage to Rybakina, who served out the set to love.
That was the first set Sabalenka dropped this summer, and she immediately found herself in more trouble at the start of the second set, only to hit herself out of it like only she can – before grabbing control of the contest.
She tidied up her serving woes and caned more than double as many winners (21) as unforced errors (10) in a largely excellent second set of tennis, where she still had to navigate challenges.
The old Sabalenka – the one she admits too often in the past let her emotions dictate her performances – may not have found a solution. Her surplus power and aggression paved the way but just as impressive was her ability to use more angles and maintain intensity without losing composure.
Sabalenka’s sole double fault in the second set, after snatching a 3-1 lead, gifted Rybakina a break-back point.
In what was a key moment, the Belarussian responded by thumping a backhand winner – it was that kind of match – to save it, then unleashed a “c’mon” more akin to a roar. She held soon after.
That was the Kazakh’s last opening, and she had to fight hard on her own serve to avoid a more lopsided set, as Sabalenka levelled the match and forced a decider.
The tide had well and truly turned once the third set began, but Rybakina desperately hung in, including staving off a break point to go 3-2 ahead.
That proved her final lead of the match, with Sabalenka snatching a deserved break on her third opportunity in the seventh game, with a trademark flurry of ball striking.
Her return knocked Rybakina off her feet, and soon after she crashed an overhead down the middle of the court to move within sight of the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup.
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