Aryna Sabalenka defeated reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 4-6 6-3 6-4 in the final of the 2023 Australian Open to claim her maiden Grand Slam title.
This Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup was important to Rybakina, as it would partially right the wrongs of her not winning any ranking points for last year’s Wimbledon triumph, but Sabalenka edged the final in Melbourne and extended her perfect record against the Kazakh player to 4-0.
The first three games featured as many as seven aces between the finalists, but there was also a break by Rybakina. The 22nd seed further solidified her position with a love hold for 4-2. Even though she was playing her first major final, the fifth-seeded Sabalenka wasn’t intimidated by the result and earned three consecutive break opportunities in the eighth game, converting her second one to level the score to 4-4. With her fifth double fault creeping in, Sabalenka once again dropped serve and this time couldn’t recover, as ice cold Rybakina consolidated the lead with a love hold.
Just as it looked like Rybakina would carry the momentum into the second set, Sabalenka managed to save two break points in the opening game and started surging through. After failing to convert two set points at 5-2 on Rybakina’s serve, Sabalenka served two…
