MELBOURNE – One point away from her first Grand Slam title, Arina Sabalenka criticized. And then she made mistakes again. She made a face. She screamed and turned her back to the court. She shook her shoulders and exhaled.
Clearly, this business of winning Australian Open did not have to go without a fight on Saturday night. Sabalenka knew deep down that that would be the case. She also knew that all the effort she had put into overcoming her self-doubt and those dreaded double faults was bound to pay off in the end. Just had to.
And so Sabalenka did her best to stay calm as she wasted a second match point on a forehand and a third by missing another, something she used to find pretty difficult. She stayed there until a fourth chance to close Elena Rybakina presented – and this time Sabalenka saw a forehand of her similarly powerful opponent sailing long. That was that. The championship belonged to Sabalenka through a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 comeback win over Wimbledon champion Rybakina.
“The last game, yes, of course I was a bit nervous. I said to myself (again and again): ‘No one tells you it’s going to be easy.’ You just have to work for it, work for it, to the last point,” said Sabalenka, a 24-year-old Belarusian who is now 11-0 with two titles in 2023 and will rise to No. 2 in the world WTA rankings on Monday.
“I’m super happy that I was able to handle all these emotions,” she said, “and win this one.”
The only set she lost all season was Saturday’s opener against Rybakina, who eliminated No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the fourth round.
It’s telling that Sabalenka’s remarks during the post-game ceremony were directed at her coach Anton Dubrov and fitness trainer Jason Stacy – she described them as “the craziest team on tour”.
“We went through a lot of, I would say, lows last year,” said Sabalenka, who appeared in her first major final and was 3-0 in the Slam semifinals up until this week. “We worked so hard and you guys deserve this trophy. It’s more about you than me.”
Well, of course she had a lot to do with it. Those serves, which spawned 17 aces, helped remove the sting of seven double faults. Those pounding groundstrokes and relentlessly aggressive style produced 51 winners, 20 more than Rybakina overall. And despite her go-for-broke shotmaking, Sabalenka somehow limited her number of unforced errors to 28. Another key stat: Sabalenka managed to rack up 13 break points and convert three of them, including the 4-3 in the final set that settled they ahead forever.
“She played really well today,” said Rybakina, who lost all four games she played against Sabalenka, all in three sets. “She was mentally and physically strong.”
While the latter has long been a hallmark of their game, even Sabalenka concedes that the former was a problem.
Her most glowing strength was also her most glaring shortcoming: her serve. Capable of delivering aces but also had a well-known double fault problem, she led the tour in that category last year with nearly 400, including 20+ matches.
After much urging from her group, she agreed to an overhaul of her mechanics last August. That, coupled with a commitment to keeping her emotions in check — she used to work with a sports psychologist but says she’s on her own now — really pays off.
“Last year she didn’t have a great serve, but now she was super strong and served well,” said Rybakina, a 23-year-old representing Kazakhstan. “Of course I respect that. I know how much work it takes.”
With the seagulls screeching loudly as they flew over Rod Laver Arena, Rybakina and Sabalenka traded serious racquet swings for nearly 2 1/2 hours.
The portions were big. that big Rybakina’s fastest was 195 km/h, Sabalenka’s 192 km/h.
The points went by quickly. So Fast: Seven of the first 13 were aces.
Sabalenka had been broken just six times in 55 service games over the course of that two weeks, but Rybakina managed it twice in the opening set.
And never again. Sabalenka decided to take the initiative even more, and the payoff for her high-risk, high-reward attitude was too much for Rybakina to withstand in the final two sets.
Sabalenka said in advance that she expected nervousness. Which is absolutely understandable for everyone: This was the most important match of her career.
In the end, when it mattered more than ever, Sabalenka was able to pull himself together. After the last point, she flopped onto her back on the court and lay there for a while, covering her face as tears filled her eyes.
Very different from a year ago at Melbourne Park, when Sabalenka was eliminated in the fourth round after 15 double faults.
“I really feel right now that I really needed these tough losses to understand myself a little bit better. It was like preparation for me,” Sabalenka said at her post-game press conference, her new trophy nearby and a glass of sparkling wine in hand. “I’m really glad I lost those matches, so now I can be a different player and just a different Aryna, you know?”
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