Women's tennis is getting closer to men's

After a tough battle of more than two hours, the Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka managed, yesterday, to beat the last winner of the Wimbledon tournament, Elena Rybakina, and thus also open her Grand Slams account.

The final was a match of high intensity and admirable quality that kept the spectator expectant until the last ball.

Both players relied on a great serve (9

for the finalist, 17 for the winner) and based their strategy on aggressiveness, on the power of their shots and on the constant search for the winning shot.

Statistical data reflect this very clearly.

Sabalenka landed 51 decisive blows and Rybakina 31. A whopping 82 between the two, averaging nearly three per game.

If we continue to analyze the data and pay attention to the speed they gave the ball, we will see that women's tennis is getting closer and closer to men's.

Power and speed are the two most determining factors to lift the titles.

Today it is the turn of the men.

In a few hours we will know if, in the end, Stefanos Tsitsipas also opens his box or if, on the contrary, it is Novak Djokovic who lifts his twenty-second Grand Slam and equals Rafael.

More information

Consult all the texts of TONI NADAL

The path covered by both tennis players these last two weeks of competition postulates the Balkan player as the favourite.

In his previous six matches, he has only dropped one set in the second round, a fact much more random than significant.

And in none of these six meetings, no rival has given the feeling of being able to intimidate him or get him into trouble.

With a somewhat more aggressive game than usual, the current number five in the world has got rid of all his opponents with astonishing tranquility.

It seems that the years do not pass for him.

He maintains the same elasticity as always and has not lost an iota of speed.

The path of the Greek has been, on the other hand, much harder and more intricate.

Jannik Sinner was not able to defeat him until the fifth set in the quarterfinal match and in the semifinal match, against Karen Kachanov, he was forced into a hard fight of 3 hours and 21 minutes that he finally resolved after four close sets.

And the history, although we must not forget the difference in age between the two players, also leaves us with some not very encouraging figures for the tennis player from Athens.

Stefanos has not lifted any Grand Slam, compared to Novak's 21.

In addition, in the direct meetings between them the figure of 10 to 2, in favor of the last one, they continue to consolidate him as the candidate who is in the majority of the pools.

Now, if we delve a little deeper into the two games that gave both players a pass to today's grand final, we will see that the Serbian was somewhat erratic.

He made more mistakes than the result may seem: 39 in three short sets.

The Greek committed 33 unforced errors in four.

The first executed 31 winners, the second no less than 64.

These two data can give hope to Stefanos, who in addition to being a great fighter has gotten used to playing big matches in recent years.

Two seasons ago, without going any further, the Roland Garros final against Djokovic himself.

The fan will remember that, after having scored the first two sets and lowering the intensity in the third, the young tennis player paid too dear a price and lost that final.

A mistake that he must not make again if he wants to achieve the difficult, but not impossible, task of beating the greatest champion of the Australian Open.

You can follow EL PAÍS Deportes on

Subscribe to continue reading

Read without limits

Keep reading

I'm already a subscriber