Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus beat Elena Rybakina, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the women’s singles final of Australian Open on Saturday.
The title marks the Belarusian’s first ever grand slam. Sabalenka is in red hot form coming into the Australian Open. She continued her good run by not even dropping a single set on the way to the finals.
The 24-year-old hit 51 winners in total and 17 aces to her 7 double faults. The turning point of the match was when the Belarusian broke Rybakina’s serve in the third set and went into 4-3 lead.
The first time champion was too happy to speak during the trophy presentation, “I am super nervous, I want to thank Miss King she has done so much, congratulations, Elena. Hopefully, we will have many more battles, hopefully in the final of grand slams. Thank you everyone, and thanks guys for an amazing atmosphere. It was an enjoyable tournament to play in. Thanks to my team, they are the craziest team on the tour. We have been through a lot downs last year. You guys deserve this trophy more than me. I hope next year I come back even stronger and I will show you even better tennis.”
The runner-up and Wimbledon champion, Rybakina said, “I would like to congratulate Aryna. I know how hard you have worked and hopefully we will have many more battles. Thank you for this atmosphere and I had goosebumps and I am looking forward to coming back next year. Next year I hope to go one better.”
Sabalenka has reached 3 major semi-finals in the past but lost all of them before beating Linette in Melbourne this week.