Aryna Sabalenka beats Elena Rybakina to win Australian Open

Belarusian fifth seed Aryna Sabalenka has won her first Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open, producing a superb fightback to defeat Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina in the final.

Sabalenka is the first player to win a Grand Slam under a neutral flag (the result of Belarus’ support for Russia’s war in Ukraine), and she hit 51 winners as she stormed back 4-6 6-3 6-4. Rybakina was unable to add a second Slam to her 2022 Wimbledon title.

It was the Kazakh player who made a better start, breaking her opponent from 40-0 in the third game and dominating proceedings until the eighth. But Sabalenka started to fight back, producing a number of good returns to get herself into the match. She hoped to maintain a 20-set winning streak, but she played a poor service game, double-faulting twice. Rybakina had a chance, serving for the set, and she held to love, winning 6-4.

Sabalenka began to press an advantage, upping her attacks and using her considerably heavier ball and her athleticism to respond and punish her opponent’s second serve. She began outhitting Rybakina in terms of winners by more than two to one, and she broke serve to lead 3-1. Rybakina tried to keep it to one break – she saved three break points in the sixth game, and then two set points at 5-2. At this point, however, the momentum was with Sablenka, who produced a second serve ace to force a deciding set.

The pressure was rising, and the momentum was with the Belarusian. But the level rose across the court, with both players producing excellent shots. Sabalenka’s baseline game was stronger, though, and she dominated rallies – come 3-3, though, Rybakina’s resistance was clearly slipping away. Two tense service games would come, and then it was the game that ultimately decided the championship. It wasn’t easy, with Sabalenka producing a nervy double fault and a missed forehand, but after she saved a break point, she had another chance. She forced a final forehand error from her opponent – the ball went wide, and the Australian Open title was hers.

After receiving the trophy, Sabalenka said: “Thank you for an amazing atmosphere. And of course my team, the craziest team on tour I would say. We’ve been through a lot of downs last year, we worked so hard. You guys deserve this trophy, it’s more about you than me. I love you guys.

“I hope next year I come back stronger and I’ll show you even better tennis.”

As a result of the win, Sabalenka will return to world number two in the WTA rankings on Monday

She attributed her success to the impact of an error-strown 2022 and a number of semi-final losses earlier in her career: “I think it’s even more enjoyable, I would say, after all those tough matches. I really feel right now that I really needed those tough losses to kind of understand myself a little bit better. It was like a preparation.

“I actually feel happy that I lost those matches, so right now I can be a different player and just different Aryna.”

Rybakina said: “First I would like to congratulate Aryna. I know how hard you’ve worked for that and also your team. Hopefully we’re going to have many more battles.

“I would say that not many girls can put me really under the pressure. Against her, it’s not easy because she has a great serve and she plays really aggressive. Her ball is coming very heavy. There is maybe few girls who plays like this.

“Of course I want to say a big thank you to my team for the great job we’ve done in pre-season and over the last four years.

“The atmosphere was amazing, I had goosebumps. Thank you everyone for the support and I look forward to coming back next year.”

As a result of the win, Sabalenka will return to world number two in the WTA rankings on Monday. Rybakina will break the top 10 for the first time, a feat she would have managed earlier if ranking points were awarded at Wimbledon last year.