Sabalenka beats Elena Rybakina to win title

Belarusian fifth seed Aryna Sabalenka won her first Grand Slam singles
title by fighting back to beat Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open final.
In an absorbing
contest which showcased the power of both players, 24-year-old Sabalenka
triumphed 4-6 6-3 6-4.
Sabalenka, who won
under a neutral flag because of Belarus' support of Russia's war in Ukraine,
hit 51 winners as her high-risk game paid off in Melbourne.
Kazakhstan's Rybakina
was unable to add a second Slam to her Wimbledon title.
Instead it was Sabalenka
who put her name on the exclusive list of people to win a major title as she
fulfilled her long-seen potential.
Sabalenka could not
convert her first three championship points - producing an edgy double fault,
pulling a forehand wide and knocking a backhand long - but also held her nerve
in between by saving a break point with a hefty unreturned first serve.
At the fourth
opportunity, she finally got over the line when 22nd seed Rybakina hit a
forehand long.
Sabalenka, full of
elation and emotion, instantly fell to the court and covered her face as she
cried in celebration.
After returning to her
feet and hugging Rybakina, she walked over to her team for a celebration which
also left her coach Anton Dubrov sobbing.
A contest between two
of the biggest hitters on the WTA Tour - billed as 'power struggle of epic
stature' by one Melbourne newspaper - was always expected to produce explosive
tennis.
And the pair produced
exactly that in a high-quality final which did not disappoint.
Sabalenka has
described how she could not face watching last year's Wimbledon after being
prevented from playing as a result of the ban imposed on Russian and Belarusian
players.
To take her mind off
the tournament, she said she spent more time in the gym but the key to her
success in Melbourne has been down to the mind as much as the body.
Sabalenka had won all
six of the Grand Slam matches last year where she lost the first set and again
showed the strength of character - this time in the most pressurised of
situations - to recover on Rod Laver Arena.
Fighting back was not
something Sabalenka had been forced to worry about since arriving in Australia.
She had started the new season with a 10-match winning streak - leading her to the Adelaide title and then the Melbourne final - with all of those victories coming in straight sets.
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