Melbourne Jan 28 (BNA): The transmission was great. very big. Other shots too. Points ran out quickly. Very quickly: seven of the first thirteen were aces.
And so it was immediately clear in the women’s Australian Open final between Arina Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina that someone who can keep her streak, get a read on returns and stay consistent in the toughest moments will emerge victorious, Associated Press reports.
It turns out that 24-year-old Sabalenka from Belarus, who won her first Grand Slam title after coming back to defeat Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 at Melbourne Park on Saturday night, using 17 aces Among the 51 overall winners to beat are seven double faults.
It was interesting that Sabalenka’s remarks during the post-match party were directed at her coach, Anton Dubrov, and her fitness coach, Jason Stacey, referring to them as “the craziest team on tour, I think.”
“We went through a lot of lows last year,” said Sabalenka, who was appearing in her first major final. “We worked hard and you deserve this trophy. It’s more about you than about me.”
Now 11-0 in 2023 with two titles already, she’s a solid player whose most shining strength was also her most obvious flaw: her serve. Long capable of hitting aces, she also had a known problem with double faults, leading the tour in that category last year with nearly 400, including more than 20 each in some matches.
After much prodding from her group, she finally agreed to undergo a service mechanic repair last August. This, along with a commitment to trying to stay calm in the most stressful of moments, is now paying off.
The only set she dropped all season was Saturday’s opener against Rybakina, who knocked out top seed Ija Swiatek in the fourth round.
But Sabalenka turned things around with aggressive style and, more importantly, by breaking Rybakina three times, the latter coming to a 4-3 lead in the never-conceded third set.
However, Sabalenka needed to work towards the championship while serving in the final game, as she double-faulted on her initial match point and required three more to close things out.
When Rybakina served a long forehand to cap off the final after nearly two and a half hours, Sabalenka fell to her back on the court and stayed slightly lower, covering her face and eyes welling with tears.
Sabalenka was 0-3 in her Grand Slam semi-final until her elimination by Magda Lynette in Melbourne. Now Sabalenka is doing better and is going to climb to #2 in the world rankings.
As seagulls shrieked loudly as they flew over Rod Laver Arena, Rybakina and Sabalenka exchanged booming performances. Rybakina reached 121 mph (195 km/h), Sabalenka at 119 mph (192 km/h). They traded ground hits from the baseline, often untouchables, resulting in winner after winner.
“We hope to have a lot of fights,” Rybakina said afterwards.
The main statistic, in the end, was: Sabalenka accumulated 13 break points, Rybakina seven. Sabalenka’s three-point conversions were enough, and the constant pressure she was able to apply throughout Rybakina’s service games took its toll.
Sabalenka was broken just six times in 55 service matches over those two weeks, an average of once per match. It took Rybakina less than 10 minutes of action and all two receivers to get the scale of things up and a 2-1 lead, helped to recover one serve that reached 117 mph (189 km/h).
After a few games, Sabalenka returned the favor, also putting her racket on one of Rybakina’s performances just as quickly. Then, when Sabalenka backhanded the ball at the endline to grab her first break and pull to a 4-all, she looked up at Dubroff and Stacy in the stands, raised her fist and screamed.
But in the next game, Sabalenka gave right back twice including on break point to give Rybakina a 5-4 advantage. This time, Sabalenka turned again toward her retinue, but with a sigh, an eye roll and an outstretched arms, as if to say, “Can you believe it?”
Soon after, Rybakina stuck to owning that group.
Sabalenka changed momentum from the start in the second set. She attacked powerfully, broke to lead 3-1, held 4-1 and finally served it up decently, with a header on the second serve, no less.
Sabalenka admitted early on that she expected to be nervous. Which makes perfect sense: This was the most important match of her career so far.
And if those tensions were evident so early on, double-faulted at the first point of the evening and seemed to resurface towards the end, Sabalenka controlled them well enough to finish the job.