Sabalenka

Aryna Sabalenka wins her first Grand Slam singles title by fighting back to beat Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open final.

It was super tough." Strong serving has been the bedrock of her success - leading the ace count in the women's singles and having won 84% of her service games going into the final - and she dropped just six service points in the opening set. "It was super emotional at the end and I was super happy I was able to handle all the emotions in the last game. Remodelling her serve in a bid to avoid the double faults which plagued her last year has proved key - as has her work with a psychologist. 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. To take her mind off the tournament, 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.

Aryna Sabalenka, the fifth seed from Belarus, roared back powerfully to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 and take her first grand slam singles title.

On Saturday, she relied heavily on her serve to hold on in the tight final games. On Monday, she will rise to No 10 in the rankings from her current position of 25th, breaking the top 10 for the first time in her career at last. On her fourth match point, Sabalenka forced a final forehand error from Rybakina, and collapsed to the ground as a grand slam champion at last. Her victory is a validation of the perseverance and toil it has taken to improve both her mentality and game. She hired a psychologist, who helped her manage her emotions, before recently deciding to hold herself accountable. With her considerably heavier ball – her ability to combine pace and spin, unlike Rybakina’s flatter ball – alongside her greater athleticism, Sabalenka knew that she had the edge over Rybakina in any neutral rally. Sabalenka remains unbeaten in 2023, winning her first 11 matches of the season with two titles to her name. She spent her time in Adelaide throwing in underarm serves because she simply could not serve. Throughout the supreme winning run she has compiled to start this season, Aryna Sabalenka continually stressed that her mentality has shifted. Neither player shied away from the pressure of such a significant moment and they produced exquisite shotmaking from the beginning. Sabalenka, who hails from Belarus, is the first neutral athlete to win a singles grand slam tournament since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She is more composed now, willing to work for her opportunities instead of swinging thoughtlessly for the fences.

Aryna Sabalenka saw off Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina at the Rod Laver Arena to secure her first ever singles Grand Slam title by winning the Australian ...

Speaking after the victory, the Australian Open champion said: "Thank you so much for everyone who made this tour happen. A tense deciding game then played out as Sabalenka served for match point, which she was able to convert to secure a famous victory in Melbourne. And this went on to show in the third, as her class shone through when it mattered most. Despite the early set back Sabalenka seemingly was not deterred as she hit back soon after. Both players had enjoyed an impressive run to Saturday's finale, and this was hot form was showing at the Rod Laver Arena. And things got even tougher for the Belarusian early on, as her serve was broken just three games into the final in Melbourne.

Sabalenka won a dramatic final 4-6 6-3 6-4 in almost two and a half hours to claim a first grand slam title.

It continued into the decider, with Rybakina having to grind for every hold and saving several break points in the early exchanges of the third. Rybakina played a smooth, relaxed game and took her chances, settling into the final with the experience of a grand slam champion. To help, she turned to a biomechanic, who deconstructed Sabalenka’s serve before helping her to build it up piece by piece. In another time, Sabalenka may well have crumbled, but her response was controlled and measured as she prevailed in a tense 57-minute second set to level the match. On the other side of the net Rybakina maintained a steady course as she played an nerveless opening set, disrupting Sabalenka’s serve and forcing errors with the depth of her forehand. It made for a compelling sight as the momentum of the final shifted and turned.

The Belarusian is the first grand slam singles champion playing under a neutral flag.

“Of course, not the result I wanted today,” she said. “I think Aryna raised her level in the second set. “The last game, of course I was a little bit nervous,” she said. She was strong mentally and physically.” “I think it’s really the best match,” she said. I think people are proud of me.”

Aryna Sabalenka fights back from a set down to defeat Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 4-6 6-3 6-4 in a battle of the big hitters and claim her first Grand ...

I know how hard you've worked for that and also your team. 7/8 9/12 3/13 2/7 I love you guys.

Twelve months ago, nothing went right for Aryna Sabalenka in Australia. A year on, she's a Grand Slam champion in Melbourne.

Tonight, she will celebrate with the team who got her to this point. It's also pressure in the end, as soon as I have an opportunity, take it. "I really feel I needed those tough losses to understand myself a little bit better. "I think it's even more enjoyable after all those tough matches," she said. "Well, it was a good start for me," Sabalenka, 24, joked after her maiden singles major win. But they are fewer and further between, her hard yards in the off-season coming good at the right time.

The Belarusian claimed a 4-6 6-3 6-4 victory, becoming the first player to win a singles grand slam under a neutral flag.

Rybakina withstood a break point in a long game at 2-2 but her resistance cracked two games later as Sabalenka moved to within sight of victory. But Sabalenka proved up to the task of serving it out, clinching the set with a second serve ace to send the contest to a decider. Aryna Sabalenka fought back from a set down to defeat Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina and claim her first grand slam title in a terrific Australian Open final.

Aryna Sabalenkas first grand slam title tasted very sweet indeed after downing Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina - even more so because of the tough times ...

"Of course, not the result I wanted today," she said. "I think Aryna raised her level in the second set. "I think it's really the best match," she said. "The last game, of course I was a little bit nervous," she said. I think the tennis was great. I think people are proud of me."

Aryna Sabalenka lies on the court during the women's final round match at the 2023 Australian. After winning the final match, against Elena Rybakina, with fifty ...

Her march to the Australian Open final had been important—a confirmation that Rybakina was one of the best players in the world, that her Wimbledon win was not a fluke. Sabalenka hit a thunderous overhead from a tricky position, the middle of the court, to take the break. She won the match on her third championship point, finishing with fifty-one winners to twenty-eight unforced errors, an astonishing ratio. She had to learn, she said, to fix her own problems on the court. She finished the year with more than four hundred double faults, more than a hundred more than the player with the second most. Rybakina came into the match as the twenty-second seed (and with the early outer-court assignments to match it). Her backhand seems chiselled to the essential motion and polished to smoothness, the way a sculpture can suggest the flow of water. And when the second set of the final began, and the pressure rose, she seemed to embrace it, and started to apply it herself. She had discovered, last year, that the problem was in her mind—but not only in the way one would imagine for a player with the yips. In the third game of the match, after firing an ace to go up 40–0, she watched her lead slip away, gifting a break point to Elena Rybakina with a double fault, and then losing the game with a loose forehand. She has a tiger’s face tattooed on her forearm, and a big cat’s rippling musculature. After Sabalenka scratched the break back to level the set at 4–4, Rybakina coolly got another, to go up 5–4, and then served out the set at love.

The Belarusian, who beat Elena Rybakina to win her first Grand Slam title on Saturday, held the trophy in triumph while the war in Ukraine remained a brutal ...

However you present her on the scoreboard, it was a Belarus victory. “Missing the Wimbledon was really tough for me,” she said. Her performance on Saturday was incontrovertible proof that they had succeeded, with the help of a biomechanical expert but also Sabalenka’s own resilience. Born and raised in Russia, she switched allegiance to Kazakhstan in exchange for financial support in 2018. Rybakina overpowered Swiatek in the fourth round in Melbourne on her way to the final. “And all that really starts from the people I was surrounded with. 2, behind Iga Swiatek, who still has a large lead based on her terrific 2022 season but who has lost to Sabalenka and Rybakina in the last two significant tournaments. It was tennis reminiscent of the big-serving, high-velocity duels between Serena and Venus Williams. But for the most part, it was strength versus strength; straight-line power against straight-line power. “I would like to have a quieter life,” she said after the mixed doubles final. Swiatek, the Polish star who looked set to become a dominant No. Anything less would not have sufficed against Elena Rybakina in their gripping, corner-to-corner final that might have been better suited to a ring as the two six-footers exchanged big blows for two hours and 28 minutes.

What a turnaround Aryna Sabalenka has experienced! This time last year she was serving underarm, but fast forward twelve months and she came up clutch en ...

“The family were very good. I realised that nobody (other) than me will help me,” she said. [Australian Open](https://www.tennis365.com/category/australian-open/) In the end of the season when I started working with the biomechanic guy, he helped me a lot.” “I thought it was (my) mentality, but it wasn’t. [Tennis News](https://www.tennis365.com/category/tennis-news/) Even when my serve was a disaster, I worked a lot on my serve. It was a problem throughout the 2022 season as she played 55 matches and served an astonishing 428 double faults in 601 service games. Then I worked on my biomechanics,” the 24-year-old revealed in Melbourne last week.

The Belarusian is the first grand slam singles champion playing under a neutral flag.

“I think Aryna raised her level in the second set. “Of course, not the result I wanted today,” she said. “The last game, of course I was a little bit nervous,” she said. “I think it’s really the best match,” she said. I think people are proud of me.” It was like a preparation for me.

Aryna Sabalenka was crowned the Australian Open champion on Saturday.

And Sabalenka's hopes of playing at Wimbledon later this year also hang in the balance after the All England Club banned all players from the two nations in 2022. However, they will not compete under the name or flag of [Russia](https://www.express.co.uk/latest/russia) or Belarus until further notice," the tours, ITF and four Slams said almost 11 months ago. But the soon-to-be world No 2 didn't seem bothered about the omission of her country, as she was just happy to finally see her name on a Grand Slam trophy. It comes after the ATP, WTA, ITF and four Grand Slams released a joint statement last March in the wake of the invasion of [Australian Open](/latest/australian-open) went against tradition after Aryna Sabalenka won the women's singles title on Saturday, with a noticeable difference in the trophy after her victory. We have zero control under this situation," she said.

The 24-year-old dazzled as she showed off her new silverware after her come-from-behind win at Rod Laver Arena on Saturday night - and revealed it wouldn't ...

I started to understand that actually I'm here because I work so hard and I'm actually good player. It was a long journey for us. I think you need to find someone else who's going to help you". 'But I knew that it's not about him. It's just something about me. He just said like, "I don't know what to do.

The Belarusian is the first grand slam singles champion playing under a neutral flag.

“Of course, not the result I wanted today,” she said. “I think Aryna raised her level in the second set. “The last game, of course I was a little bit nervous,” she said. She was strong mentally and physically.” “I think it’s really the best match,” she said. I think people are proud of me.”

Aryna Sabalenka wept tears of relief and joy after breaking through for her elusive maiden grand slam title over Elena Rybakina - but a tiny detail has been ...

'I lost three grand slam semi-finals and it was a really tough time. However, as the cameras zoomed in on the trophy it was revealed that Sabalenka's country of origin was not engraved like it had been for the champions before her It's all the stars. 'It was super emotional, I was super happy that I was able to handle all of the emotions in the last game.' However, as the cameras zoomed in on the trophy it was revealed that Sabalenka's country of origin was not engraved on the award like it had been for all the champions before her. All those names,' she exclaimed.

The powerful Belarusian, who will become world No. 2 on Monday, showed a new side to her personality, posing effortlessly in front of the cameras.

The 24-year-old Belarusian player pushed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan to three sets to capture her first Grand Slam singles title.

Two games from the championship and in the driver’s seat, Sabalenka pumped her fist, took a few deep breaths and mouthfuls of water on the changeover, then strutted back onto the court to hammer her way to the title. As the reigning Wimbledon champion playing against a first-time Grand Slam finalist, Rybakina held a priceless edge in experience, but Sabalenka had all of the momentum, and the balls were jumping off her strings with a pop and a zip that Rybakina couldn’t match. She was also asked to answer for her native country’s invasion of Ukraine as she stampeded to the title. On her third chance to get the crucial break of serve, Sabalenka sent her opponent scrambling after shots, then put away the game with an overhead shot from the middle of the court. Then, on Sabalenka’s fourth match point, Rybakina buckled, sending that forehand long, and an overwhelmed Sabalenka flat onto her back. On Thursday, after finally making her first Grand Slam final on her fourth try, Sabalenka talked about having fired her sports psychologist. Rybakina, a Russian through her childhood who became a citizen of Kazakhstan when the country promised to pay for her tennis training, spent the better part of two weeks during Wimbledon talking about whether she was actually Kazakh or Russian. They were first and second in hitting winners off their opponents’ serve, and at the top of the charts in peak serve speed, with both cracking 120 miles per hour. It was Sabalenka’s first Grand Slam title in a rocky career that has included the kind of error-ridden, big-moment meltdowns from which some players almost never recover. The year’s first Grand Slam event runs from Jan. On the final, anxious point, Rybakina sent a forehand long. “We’ve been through a lot of downs,” she said.

Following Aryna Sabalenkas Australian Open title victory, world number one Iga Swiatek is set for some company at the top of womens tennis.

I started to understand that actually I'm here because I work so hard and I'm actually a good player. Every time I had a tough moment on court, I was just reminding myself that I'm good enough to handle all this." She hopes she can be a regular challenger at slams, saying: "Well, if it's going to be like this, it's great. "Now I have more confidence, of course, even after this final. I'm a player. I really want it again.

A terrific Australian Open final indicated Iga Swiatek will soon have company at the top of the women's game. By winning her maiden grand slam title, ...

I started to understand that actually I’m here because I work so hard and I’m actually a good player. Every time I had a tough moment on court, I was just reminding myself that I’m good enough to handle all this.” I know that there is still a lot of things to work on to be better on court.” She hopes she can be a regular challenger at slams, saying: “Well, if it’s going to be like this, it’s great. “Now I have more confidence, of course, even after this final. I want even more and I want to become a better player.

And so, as she wasted a second match point by flubbing a forehand, and a third by again missing another, Sabalenka did her best to stay calm, something she used ...

“I really feel right now that I really needed those tough losses to kind of understand myself a little bit better. “I actually feel happy that I lost those matches, so right now I can be a different player and just a different Aryna, you know?” Capable of delivering aces, she also had a well-known problem with double-faulting, leading the tour in that category last year with nearly 400, including matches with more than 20. After much prodding from her group, she agreed to undergo an overhaul of her mechanics last August. At the end, when it mattered more than ever, Sabalenka was able to steady herself. I (kept) telling myself, like, ’Nobody tells you that it’s going to be easy.' You just have to work for it, work for it, ’til the last point,” said Sabalenka, a 24-year-old from Belarus who is now 11-0 with two titles in 2023 and will rise to No. “We’ve been through a lot of, I would say, downs last year,” said Sabalenka, who was appearing in her first major final and had been 0-3 in Slam semifinals until this week. “She was strong mentally, physically.” She yelled and turned her back to the court. [Elena Rybakina](https://apnews.com/article/wimbledon-sports-moscow-kazakhstan-venus-williams-eeec79c03f00550d3476baa22e2e273e) presented itself — and this time, Sabalenka saw a forehand from her similarly powerful foe sail long. She hung in there until a fourth chance to close out She wiggled her shoulders and exhaled.