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Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka is in the final of the Australian Open for the first time
Photo: Aaron Favila/AP
After losing three Grand Slam semifinals (Wimbledon 2021, US Open 2021 and 2022), Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka reached the final of a major tennis tournament for the first time at the Australian Open.
Sabalenka advanced to the final with a 7:6(7:1), 6:2 win over unseeded Pole Magda Linette.
The Belarusian thus extended her unbeaten start to the year.
The Adelaide winner is yet to drop a set on her way to ten wins in 2023 but got off to a poor start in chilly conditions at the Rod Laver Arena.
The five-seeded player pressed Linette's serve with power and precision in the tie-break of the first set, pulling away and taking the set when her opponent hit a serve wide.
In the final, Sabalenka meets Moscow-born Jelena Rybakina, who has been playing for Kazakhstan since 2018 and is also in the final of the hard court tournament in Melbourne for the first time.
Rybakina kept her nerves against Azarenka
The Kazakh Wimbledon winner advanced to the final with a 7:6 (7:4), 6:3 against Viktoria Asarenka from Belarus.
In a game where momentum fluctuated wildly, Rybakina kept her cool when it mattered.
The 33-year-old Asarenka, who triumphed at the Australian Open in 2012 and 2013, initially kept up well with Rybakina, who was ten years younger, in the first set.
But then the 24th-seeded Belarusian failed in a chaotic tiebreak of the first set, giving up twice to fall 5-2 down in the second set.
In front of the eyes of football coach Thomas Tuchel and US entrepreneur Bill Gates in the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Rybakina, number 22, was broken on his own serve.
But Azarenka made a double fault and had three match points against her in the next game, of which Rybakina used the second to win.
"It was an incredible atmosphere and I'm overjoyed that I'm in the final and can play here again," Rybakina said after the game, adding: "The conditions were difficult, I couldn't play offensive tennis, but I'm happy that I could win.«
cf/dpa/rtr
