ARYNA SABALENKA became a controversial winner of the Australian Open women’s title – the first success for a Belarusian athlete since the war in Ukraine began.
The Minsk madam produced a serving masterclass as she came from behind to beat Elena Rybakina 4-6 6-3 6-4 in an engrossing match on the Rod Laver Arena.
Sabalenka came from behind to beat Elena Rybakina
She won the match 4-6 6-3 6-4
The 24-year-old lifted the crown here in Melbourne in the unusual, perhaps unprecedented position of playing under a neutral flag.
That is because the colours and symbols of her country Belarus are universally banned on the international stage.
Sporting federations across the globe took that decision when Russian troops started illegally invading Ukraine in February 2022 and Belarus were one of the key allies.
Given the sheer number of stars in tennis from those two pariah nations, it was perhaps inevitable that something like this would happen and there is no getting away from the political nature of this success.
Nobody had served better than the Wimbledon champion Rybakina in the previous 12 days of competition in Melbourne Park.
But the powerful Sabalenka, who admitted to having serving yips last year, fired down a whopping 17 aces across the three sets for her maiden major triumph,
As she fought back the tears, she received the trophy from tennis icon Billie Jean King.
Sabalenka, who screeches every time she hits the ball, arrived at her first Slam final having won all TEN of her matches this year and without dropping a single set.
The No.5 seed may have opened this contest with a double fault but she soothed any nerves by nailing a 109mph ace in the next point.
Rybakina, who opened with three aces in a row in her first game, coped better in the first set with the swirling wind and broke Sabalenka in games three and nine.
The Moscow-born Kazakhstani clinched the opening set in just 34 minutes, having dropped only six points on her serve.
Yet the venom in which Sabalenka strikes the ball meant she always had a chance if Rybakina failed to land her first serve.
Indeed, she knows how to fight back and last year she won six matches at Grand Slam level after losing the first set.
At 5-2 up in the second set, Sabalenka’s confidence was visibly growing, momentum was on her side and she levelled up thanks to a 104mph ace.
In the third set, the turning point came in game seven when Sabalenka finally managed to unpick the Rybakina serve.
Though she had been labelled a choker in the past for squandering match-winning chances, Sabalenka did not disappoint this time and managed eventually to serve her way to glory — that is despite delivering a double fault on her first match point.
This was a thoroughly enjoyable encounter but disappointingly, there were hundreds of empty seats in the upper tiers – but maybe not a surprise when it costs more than £140 for a women’s final ticket.
