The final of the women’s tournament at the Australian Open promised to be intriguing. Elena Rybakina and Arina Sobolenko passed through the grid of the first Grand Slam tournament of the season with almost no losses, knocking out top tennis players on the way. Muscovite Rybakina plays for Kazakhstan and has already won Wimbledon. True, she did not receive rating points for this. Belarusian Sobolenko was the second racket of the world in the past, but she did not take the titles of “majors”.
Elena Rybakina on her way to the final of the Australian Open knocked out several first rackets of the world at once. First – Iga Sventek, the leader of women’s tennis and the favorite of the championship. Then – Victoria Azarenka, although the Belarusian had chances in the first set. But Vika allowed Lena to play her tennis, act confidently, although the Kazakhstani did not do without mistakes. Nevertheless, that match was left for Rybakina. Then there was a win from the winner of Roland Garros – 2017 Elena Ostapenko. So Lena Rybakina, who was “seeded” in Australia at number 22, got into the final and got the opportunity to compete for the second title of the Grand Slam tournament.
Last season, Rybakina won Wimbledon – we remember that rating points were not awarded there due to the situation with the Russians, so Lena did not make it to the very top. Because of this, she did not make it to the Final Tournament. But the easier it is for the tennis player this season – at least points for the London tournament will not have to be defended.
Arina Sobolenko was already the second racket of the world several years ago, but this is the first time the Belarusian reached the final of the Major. Since the beginning of the season, she has been impressive with her attitude – she has not lost a single match and is confidently fighting against any athletes. I didn’t even give a single set to my rivals. Olympic champion Belinda Bencic took seven games from Sobolenko, Poland’s Magda Lynette took eight in the semifinals.
Both girls certainly wanted to win. Rybakin – take another “Helmet”, already with rating points, and finally enter the top ten. Sobolenko – get the first title at the “major”. Arina leads the head-to-head matches, having defeated Lena in three matches. The Kazakhstani won only once, and that was the match of the exhibition tournament. The confrontation, of course, is interesting – a Belarusian who plays without a flag due to the global political situation, and an ex-Russian and a Muscovite.
Rybakina was better in the first set. Stability remains her hallmark – for example, she made the first break, losing 0:40 on Sabolenko’s serve, after which, in a less dramatic game, due to a double from Arina, she won another Belarusian serve. In the middle of the game, Sobolenko still equalized the score, but discipline helped Lena complete the set in her favor. The Belarusian still had a traditional mistake for her in the form of doubles, which usually signals Arina’s excitement.
But then Arina was already stronger, thanks to her distinctive feature – power tennis. The only break in the second game was made by Sobolenko after a breakdown by Rybakina, but in general the Belarusian was more active. This was reflected primarily in the serve, although at the beginning of the set she had to save the game from a double break point. Then, it seemed, the whole game came down to whether the Belarusian would take another serve from her opponent. I didn’t take it, but one break was enough.
Everything logically flowed into the third set, where at first there was equality in the innings. Although Rybakina was losing here too – she had to fight more for her own games. Sobolenko’s efforts were not in vain – after the fall of Rybakina and the confusion of Arina, the score was in favor of the Belarusian. Lena needed to recoup, and, to her credit, she was desperate to do so.
Sobolenko needed four match points to take the last game. By that time, the total time of the fight had exceeded two and a half hours – comparable to the men’s game. The nerves were heated to the limit – Arina often made mistakes in decisive moments, so it was easier for Lena to recoup.
The match turned out to be of a very high level – both girls have a lot of emotions. Arina from Monday is the second racket of the world, Lena is the tenth. Sobolenko has been said a lot before that she has great talent and potential to win Grand Slam tournaments. And finally, it happened – Arina Sobolenko without a flag became the champion of the Australian Open.
