Australian Open women’s final – Aryna Sabalenka battles it out for first Grand Slam victory

MELBOURNE, Australia — Sheer aggression and a high-risk, high-reward philosophy saw Aryna Sabalenka clinch an epic Australian Open final over Elena Rybakina.

The Belarusian battered and bruised her way to the title at Melbourne Park, coming from a set down to overwhelm last year’s Wimbledon champion 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. It’s the first major triumph for Sabalenka, who, prior to this fortnight, had reached the semifinal stage of a Slam on three occasions.

How did Sabalenka win on Saturday evening and what does it mean for her going forward? Here are our key takeaways.

How the match was won

The Rybakina serve is on a shortlist for the greatest weapon in the women’s game. Entering the final, she led the tournament in aces and had clocked the fastest serve speed of the fortnight at 195km/h (121.2mp/h). No player in the women’s draw was winning a higher percentage of points than Rybakina when her first serve landed in play (80%) and she was the only player in the women’s draw who benefitted from having over 50% of her first serves unreturned — a mark of her power, precision and consistency.

For Sabalenka to win the title, she had to find a way to neutralize Rybakina’s greatest asset. Early on, she had few answers as Rybakina raised her tournament first-serve percentage from 55% to 65% en route to taking the first set 6-4.

But as Rybakina began missing her mark as the match wore on, and that figure began to plummet, Sabalenka was able to eye off more second serves and let her aggressive game style overwhelm. She struck winners from behind the baseline and kept the errors low, all the while piling the pressure on Rybakina.

In the end, it was Sabalenka’s serve which began yielding greater results. She finished the final with 17 aces, landed her first serve 65% of the time — also up 5% from her tournament average — and used it effectively to set up points.

It’s all mental for Sabalenka

One year ago, Sabalenka fought back tears as she attempted to explain her shocking fourth-round Australian Open loss to the unseeded Kaia Kanepi, a match in which she had committed 40 unforced errors and an inexplicable 15 double faults.

“I started well, but then I lost focus and, yeah, then it became really emotional and I couldn’t find a way back,” Sabalenka admitted after the loss.

Tonight, a murmur echoed around Rod Laver Arena when Sabalenka conceded the first point…