Sabalenka beats Rybakina for Australian Open women’s title, 1st Grand Slam win

One point away from her first Grand Slam title, Aryna Sabalenka went wrong. Then he was wrong again. He grimaced. He shouted and turned towards the court. He wiggled his shoulders and exhaled.

Clearly, this business of winning the Australian Open will not necessarily happen without a struggle on the night. Sabalenka knew deep down what was about to happen. They also know that all the effort they put in, to overcome self-doubt and the dreaded double mistake, will pay off. Just have to.

So when she squandered her second match point with a forehand hit, and the third lost another, Sabalenka did her best to maintain her composure, which is usually hard to find. She hung in there until her fourth chance to shut down Elena Rybakina – and this time, Sabalenka saw her forehand hit off the screen of an equally powerful opponent. That’s it. The championship belonged to Sabalenka with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Wimbledon champion Rybakina.

“The last game, yes, of course, I was a little nervous [kept] told me, like, ‘Nobody told me it was going to be easy.’ You just have to work hard, work hard, until the end,” said Sabalenka, the 24-year-old from Belarus who is now 11-0 with two titles in 2023 and will climb to No. 2 in the WTA rankings on Friday.

“I’m very happy to be able to overcome all those emotions,” he said, “and win this.”

WATCH l Aryna Sabalenka, 24, beats Elena Rybakina:

Aryna Sabalenka won the Aussie Open for her first major title

The 24-year-old Belarusian defeated Elena Rybakina to claim the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup in Melbourne.

The only set she dropped all season was Saturday’s opener against Rybakina, who eliminated No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the fourth round.

It is telling that Sabalenka’s comments during the post-match ceremony were directed at her trainer, Anton Dubrov, and her fitness coach, Jason Stacy – who she called “the craziest team on tour.”

“We’ve had a lot of, I would say, downs last year,” said Sabalenka, who is appearing in her first major final and is 0-3 in Slam semifinals so far this week. “We worked hard and you deserve this trophy. It’s more about you than about me.”

Well, he had a lot to do with it, of course. That serve produced 17 aces, helping to remove the sting of seven double faults. Her hammered groundstrokes and relentlessly aggressive style produced 51 winners, 20 more than Rybakina’s total. And, despite her go-for-broke shotmaking, somehow Sabalenka limited her unforced error count to 28. One other key statistic: Sabalenka managed to accrue 13 break points, converting three, including one at 4-3 in the last set. he is ahead for good.

“She played really well today,” said Rybakina, who has lost all four matches she has played against Sabalenka, all in three sets. “He’s strong mentally, physically.”

While the latter has long been a hallmark of the game, even Sabalenka admits that the former is a problem.

His most glaring strength is also his most glaring weakness: he serves. Capable of delivering aces, he also has a known problem with double faults, leading the tour in that category last year with nearly 400, including matches with more than 20.

After much prodding from her group, she agreed to undergo her mechanical overhaul last August. That, along with the commitment to try to keep emotions in check – she used to work with sports psychologists but no longer, she says she relies on herself now – really paid off.

“She didn’t have a good serve last year, but now she’s very strong and she’s serving well,” said Rybakina, 23, who represents Kazakhstan. “Of course, I appreciate that. I know how much work.”

The serves were great. So big. The fastest Rybakina reached 195 kilometers per hour (kph), Sabalenka with 192 kph.

The point ends quickly. Be quick: Seven of the first 13 are aces.

Sabalenka has been broken just six times in 55 service games over the past two weeks, but Rybakina did so twice in the opening set.

And never again. Sabalenka decided to take the initiative even more, and the payoff for the high risk, high reward attitude was too much for Rybakina to last through the last two sets.

Sabalenka said earlier that she expected to feel the jitters. That makes perfect sense to anyone: This is the most important match of his career.

In the end, when it mattered more than ever, Sabalenka was able to stand firm. After the final point, he dropped to the back of the field and stayed down, covering his face as tears filled his eyes.

Quite a difference from last year at Melbourne Park, when Sabalenka left after 15 double faults in the fourth round loss.

“I really feel now that I really need a tough loss to get to know myself better. It’s like preparation for me,” Sabalenka said at the press conference after the match, her new trophy and a glass of bubbly in her hand. “I’m really happy that I lost that match, so now I can be a different player and it’s just a different Aryna, you know?”

The Australian duo won the men’s doubles title

Australian pair Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler defeated Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski 6-4, 7-6 (4) to win the men’s doubles title.

It was the first Grand Slam title for Hijikata and Kubler — the third Australian team to win the men’s doubles title in the last five Grand Slams.

Australia entered the tournament for the first time playing as a team.

“Rinky and I certainly didn’t think this would happen two weeks ago,” Kubler said. “A bit of a pleasant surprise I must say.”

Kubler, who suffers from knee pain, said Hijikata approached him about playing together.

“Yes [Rinky] it’s actually the reason we teamed up for this tournament, “Kubler explained. “I wasn’t sure I wanted to play, then Rinky asked me and I decided to play. Two weeks later, now we have this trophy.”