Australian Open 2024

'What a player, what a final' - Fans laud Aryna Sabalenka as she wins her first Grand Slam Title, beats Elena Rybakina in final

The 24-year-old Sabalenka made a spectacular comeback after losing the first set and captured the match by winning two consecutive sets.

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Rohit Kumar
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Aryna Sabalenka (Source - Twitter)

Aryna Sabalenka (Source - Twitter)

Belarusian player Aryna Sabalenka won the first Grand Slam title of her career by defeating Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 4–6, 6–3, 6–4 in the Australian Open 2023 women's singles final. The 24-year-old Sabalenka made a spectacular comeback after losing the first set and captured the match by winning two consecutive sets.

From the beginning of the match, Sabalenka was dominating her opponent. After winning the first game easily, Sabalenka took the lead in the first set but after a forced error in the ninth game, Rybanika came back in the game and won the first set after taking a 6-4 lead.

Sabalenka, who was serving for the second set, once again won the first game of the set, but again due to the forced error, Rybanika got a chance to return and the set was equal to 1-1. But with the help of her superb serve, Sabalenka took a 4-1 lead.

Sabalenka was appearing in her first major final

However, Rybanika managed to hold serve in the second set and tried to come back 5-3. But Sabalenka finished the second set in style with back-to-back aces. Sabalenka took the match to the third and deciding set by winning 6-3 in the second set.

Rybanika won the first game in the third set, but thanks to Rybanika's forced error, Sabalenka won the second game to level the scores at 1-1. After this, the competition kept getting exciting. By winning one game each, both the players leveled the score at 2-2 and then at 3-3.

The game turned during the seventh game when Sabalenka took advantage of Rybanica's backhand unforced error and won the next two games to lead 5–3. In the ninth game, three forehand forced errors by Sabalenka gave Rybanica a comeback opportunity to bring the score to 5-4. Rybanica saved three championship points to stay in the game, but Sabalenka won the third set 6–4 with a forehand unforced in the tenth game to seal the final match.

Here's how the fans reacted:

Australian Open 2024 Tennis