Rybakina, Sabalenka set up Australian Open final showdown

The Nation  |  Jan 27, 2023

 Rybakina, Sabalenka set up Australian Open final showdown
MELBOURNE     -    Elena Rybakina won a duel of Grand Slam champions to reach her first Australian Open final and will battle Aryna Sabalenka for the title after the Belarusian shrugged off her semi-final hoodoo at the majors.

Rybakina claimed a 7-6(4) 6-3 victory over twice champion Victoria Azarenka in the first semi-final on Thursday, ending the chance of an awkward allBelarusian decider for organisers, who banned the nation’s flags early in the event.

Fifth seed Sabalenka beat Magda Linette 7-6(1) 6-2 in the late match at Rod Laver Arena, reaching her first Grand Slam final after falling at the semi-final hurdle three times before. The title match will pair two bigserving, baseline pounders with contrasting personalities.

Russian-born Rybakina is the quiet achiever who switched allegiance to Kazakhstan as a 19-year-old and won the central Asian nation its first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon last year. The animated Sabalenka has long been seen as a Grand Slam contender but has been a slave to her emotions on the biggest stages.

Let’s not settle for less!

Rybakina’s “non-celebration” on court after beating Ons Jabeur in the Wimbledon final was repeated on Rod Laver Arena on Thursday as she walked calmly to the net without so much as a fist-pump to shake hands with the vanquished Azarenka. It was Rybakina’s third victory in succession over a Grand Slam champion, having knocked out world number one Iga Swiatek and Jelena Ostapenko in the previous rounds. It was far from easy, though.

Sabalenka joined Rybakina in the final after a cold start on a chilly evening, notching her 10th win in succession, including the warm-up Adelaide title. Sabalenka said she had stopped using a psychologist in the off-season and decided to take her headgame into her own hands.

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