Melbourne: Belarus tennis star scripted history as Aryna Sabalenka bagged her maiden Grand Slam title after defeating Elena Rybakina in the finals of the Australian Open women’s singles competition on Saturday.
Aryna warded off the Kazakh challenge by 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to win the title. Sabalenka owns one of the most coveted titles in the sport after all the accolades and expectations from one of the hardest strikers in the game.
The match featured two of the most fearless offensive players, with both striking 82 winners between them, with 51 of them coming from Belarusian.
But the undaunting play of the number 5 seed during the tense moments of the match made the difference.
Sabalenka took to the court to finish off the match and at her fourth match point, Sabalenka fell to the court joyously as Rybakina hit a forehand long, giving the Belarusian a win.
Speaking with WTA after the iconic feat, Aryna said that “I am still shaking and super nervous. My team — the craziest team on tour, I would say. We have been through a lot of ups and downs in the last year. We worked so hard. You guys deserve this trophy, it is more about you than me,”.
Sabalenka is the 58th different woman to win a Grand Slam title in the Open Era. The last one to do it was Rybakina at Wimbledon last year.
(With Agency Inputs)
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