Sabalenka vs Rybakina Highlights: Aryna Sabalenka has clinched her maiden Grand Slam title. The 24-year old defeated reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the Australian Open final on Saturday, 28th January 2023. With this, she has risen to World No.2 in the WTA Rakings. Follow Australian Open 2023 LIVE updates on InsideSport.IN
Sabalenka vs Rybakina Highlights: Aryna Sabalenka wins maiden Grand Slam title, defeats Elena Rybakina in Australian Open Women’s singles FINAL, Follow AO 2023 Highlights
In a finale we won’t soon forget, @SabalenkA kept her nerve, held her serve and tasted Grand Slam glory for the very first time.#AusOpen • #AO2023
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 28, 2023
“I’m still shaking and super nervous,” Sabalenka said. “My team — the craziest team on tour, I would say. We’ve been through a lot of ups and downs the last year. We worked so hard. You guys deserve this trophy, it’s more about you than me.”
Sabalenka has now won all 11 of her matches in this new year. She lost the opening set against the No.22-seeded Rybakina in the final. This was the first time she dropped a set in this year’s edition. With the victory, she has also taken a 4-0 lead against Rybakina in the head-to-head record between both the players.
Sabalenka started off the contest with a double fault. Shewent on to make five double faults in the course of the first set that proved costly. She conceded a break in the third game and went down 1-2. She however fought her way back in the contest and managed to break Rybakina soon to level the scores 4-4. However Rybakina broke back Sabalenka in the next game and went on to seal the first set 6-4.
The second set, though, belonged to Sabalenka. She clinched an early break to lead the set 3-1. Unlike the first set, she didn’t let her opponent come back in the contest as she held all her service games to take the contest into the decider.
In the third set, both the players put on a good fight. They won three games each. Sabalenka finally managed to snatch the decisive break in the next game. Sabalenka soon found herself serving for the point. Leading 30-40, she committed a couple of double faults and the pressure was on her to close out the gaame. She managed to hold her nerves and finally clinched the decisive point after three attempts to bag her maiden Grand Slam title.
