Aryna Sabalenka captured her first career singles major after defeating Elena Rybakina 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday. Sabalenka walks out of Melbourne the No. 2 ranked player in the world.
The 24-year-old powerhouse from Belarus defeated Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina in the 2023 Australian Open final 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 at a packed Rod Laver Arena on Saturday.
"I'm just super happy. Proud. I don't know how to explain," Sabalenka said after the match."Just the best -- is the best day of my life right now." In the first set, Rybakina's experience as a major singles title winner kicked in immediately as she broke the No. 5 seed's serve in the second game. The No. 22 seed continued to show confidence in the opening set as she broke Sabalenka's serve again to gain a 5-4 lead before closing out the final game at love.Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
In the second set, Melbourne fans got to see the Sabalenka they had been watching for the past two weeks. It was the Belarusian who was unstoppable in her serving and aggressive tennis while making minimal unforced errors. She ended the second set with 21 winners to just 10 unforced errors to force the match to a third set.
The third set was phenomenal tennis from both ends of the court with each player swinging freely. Ultimately, it was a competition in which player could gain control of the point first. Serving for the match up 5-4, Sabelnka had a hard time closing out, failing to convert three championship points. On the fourth match point, Sabelnka was able to force a final forehand error from Rybakina.
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