MELBOURNE — Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina began her Australian Open campaign on the outer courts at Melbourne Park but the 22nd seed is now just one step away from winning her second major, with only fellow big-hitter Aryna Sabalenka standing in her way.
Aryna Sabalenka figures she’ll feel some jitters when she steps out on court to face Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open women’s final.
Today’s contest is, after all, Sabalenka’s first singles title match at a Grand Slam tournament. Rybakina is more familiar with this stage: She won Wimbledon a little more than six months ago.
“That’s OK, to feel little bit nervous. It’s a big tournament, big final,” Sabalenka said according to AP. “If you’re going to start trying to do something about that, it’s going to become bigger, you know?”
Rybakina would have climbed into the top 10 had the ranking points been available but she has proved she belongs in the spotlight at Melbourne Park, knocking out three Grand Slam champions en route to this year’s title clash.
Playing flawless tennis and showing little emotion, the 23-year-old dismissed last year’s runner-up Danielle Collins before eliminating title favourite Iga Swiatek, former Roland Garros winner Jelena Ostapenko and two-times Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka.
“I think it was a great challenge for me because for sure, they have experience of winning Grand Slams, so it was nothing new for them,” Rybakina, who beat Azarenka 7-6(4) 6-3 in the semi-finals, said according to Reuters.
“This time I would say that it was a bit easier compared to Wimbledon when I was playing for the first time the quarters, semis and the final.
“For sure they’re very experienced players. I knew I have to focus on every point. I think in the end I did well.”
Sabalenka finally looks to be delivering on years of promise and will be making her first appearance in a Grand Slam final after falling at the semi-final stage three times.
The powerful fifth seed defeated unheralded Pole Magda Linette 7-6(1) 6-2 to reach today’s title match at Rod Laver Arena and will look to fight fire with fire against Rybakina.
Sabalenka, who has notched up 10 successive straight-sets victories this year, including a run to the Adelaide title, was unable to compete at Wimbledon due to the ban and said she only watched some of it on TV.
“I was feeling really bad about that (ban) and didn’t watch Wimbledon at all,” the 24-year-old said.
“I mean, little bit the final because I was working out in the gym. I saw a bit. It was great tennis.”
With Russian and Belarusian players only allowed to compete as individual athletes without national affiliation at Melbourne Park, Sabalenka could become the first neutral athlete to win a Grand Slam.
“Let’s talk about that if I win it,” she said. “I don’t like to speak about ‘if’. I just want to work for it, do my best.
“If I win, you can ask that question and I will answer.”
Sabalenka has managed to keep the ledger tilted quite a bit in her favor, accumulating 196 winners (32.7 per match) and 136 unforced errors (22.7 per match). Rybakina’s numbers are more even, averaging 26.3 winners and 24.8 unforced errors.
This will be their fourth head-to-head meeting, and Sabalenka is 3-0 so far, winning each in three sets, although they haven’t played each other since Wimbledon in 2021.
Since then, Sabalenka’s coach, Anton Dubrov observed, “Aryna lost (her) serve. Then she found the serve. Meanwhile, Rybakina won a Slam. They both kind of came here from different directions. So I would say … all previous matches don’t matter at all. It’s going to be something really new.”
