The most dangerous serve against the most lethal right. The Kazakh Elena Rybakina and the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka promise a heavy artillery final on Saturday (05:30) in search of an unprecedented consecration at the Australian Open.
With the Wimbledon title 2022 In her record, the Kazakh nationalized Russian starts with a little more experience in these situations against a Sabalenka who, until now, had lost her three previous Grand Slam semifinals.
“For me this time it’s been a little bit easier compared to Wimbledon when I was first playing a quarterfinal, semifinal or final,” Rybakina said on Thursday, after beating Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, the double champion in Melbourne.
But Sabalenka24 years old and number 5 in the world, arrives at a threatening moment: is on a 10 match unbeaten streak in Australiacounting his previous victory at the WTA in Adelaide, and still has not lost a single set in all of 2023.
Also, have beaten Rybakina in their previous three meetingsthe last of them in the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2021, a year before the Kazakh lifted her first Grand Slam.
That title was not worth much to the Kazakh in her career in Melbourne. The exclusion of the Russian and Belarusian players from Wimbledon made the tournament non-ranking and relegated the Kazakh in Australia to the No. 22 seed.
From field 13 to Rod Laver
Disputing his first game in the track 13a location unusual for a reigning champion of Major tournaments, Rybakina He advanced in a not easy table, meeting the last finalist of the tournament in the third round, the American Danielle Collinsthe only one who has managed to score a set for him.
The slope became even steeper with several Grand Slam champions: in the round of 16 she beat the number 1 in the world, the Polish Iga Swiatek; Latvian quartered Jelena Ostapenkowinner of a Roland Garros, and in the semifinals to the Belarusian Azarenka.
He eliminated all of them in two sets imposing his main weapons: a I hit flat and dry and, above all, his servewith up to 45 ‘aces’ so far in the championship.
Bigger than tall Rybakina, Sabalenka also stands out for the power of her shots, more topspin and with effectwho do it lead the statistics of winning shots in the Open.
Also, unlike the bouts of impatience and nerves of the past, he has shown a zen version in Melbourne, unfazed when they go wrong.
After losing two semifinals at the US Open and one at Wimbledon, the Belarusian has now broken her ceiling and hopes to go one step further.
“I lost three semifinals because I was not calm on the track. I exceeded. I really wanted to get the shot. I was rushing too much. She was very nervous. I was screaming, ”she explained before her semifinal.
“Now I am a little calmer. I think this was the only thing my game was missing,” she added.
