Aryna Sabalenka WINS Australian Open to become tennis’ first NEUTRAL champion after battling back from a set down to beat Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 4-6 6-3 6-4 in thrilling final at Melbourne Park
- Aryna Sabalenka beat Elena Rybakina 4-6 6-3 6-4 to win Australian Open
- The Aussie Open is the world No5’s first Grand Slam title of her career
- Wimbledon champion Rybakina was looking for her second major title
The tennis world’s policy of allowing players from outlawed nations to carry on competing yielded its first neutral champion at the Australian Open.
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus may not have a flag but she has a first Grand Slam title after winning an excellent women’s final, beating Elena Rybakina 4-6 6-3 6-4 in two hours and 28 minutes.
It was the seventh consecutive time in Grand Slam matches that she has come back to win after losing the first set.
Aryna Sabalenka won the Australian Open after beating Elena Rybakina 4-6 6-3 6-4
Sabalenka, serving 17 aces, won an encounter of sometimes eye popping power when she clinched a fourth match point at 5-4, having double faulted on her first.
Barred from appearing at Wimbledon, she has now achieved what has long been predicted for an outstanding athlete who has been held back in the past by nerves on the big occasions.
The players came out to be greeted by the sight of some empty seats around the higher levels of Rod Laver Arena, a measure of this not being a match that was easy to place much emotional investment in.
Tickets were selling at less than a third of the men’s final, although still for a healthy £150 each.
The Belarusian was overcome with emotions after serving out to clinch the first Grand Slam title of her career in a thrilling final at Melbourne Park
Rybakina is the introvert who switched from Russia to Kazakhstan, thus avoiding the kind of controversy which Sabalenka has had to deal with.
The Wimbledon champion is of slight build, but she strikes the ball so cleanly and with such timing that she could almost match her opponent for pace.
She made her first inroads to break for 2-1 and a key differential in the first set was her protecting her second serve. Sabalenka was hitting her second delivery quicker but the five double faults in the first set were crucial.
Sabalenka broke back for 4-4 but it was a double fault that gave the break straight back.
Rybakina won the first set 6-4 and looked on her way to win a second Grand Slam title after triumphing at Wimbledon in July last year
But the Kazakh had no answers for Sabalenka as the world No5 roared back into the contest
The Belarusian landed 80 percent of her first serve, putting pressure on Rybakina
The Belarusian has a history of problems on her second serve, but with her first going in around 80 percent of the time she was able to preserve her early break in the second.
She levelled the match at a set all with her twelfth ace after a set which had taken 23 minutes longer than the first, despite lasting one game more.
They were on 66 points apiece at the start of the third, and Rybakina’s hyperactive coach Stefano Vukos was showing signs of alarm.
Deciding sets have been few and far between in the second week of the tournament. Sabalenka was now making inroads on her opponent’s second serve, but the Kazakh held on until the pressure told and she was broken for 4-3. Sabalenka’s serve allowed her to reach the winning post from there, although the last moments were nerve-shredding.
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