Elena Rybakina won the Brisbane International with a dominant 6-0, 6-3 victory against top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka in a superb warm-up for the first major of 2024. Sabalenka, who had won five of her previous seven meetings with Rybakina, had no answer for the World No.4’s laser-like groundstrokes and deft touches at the net. The Kazakhstani player dominated the final with a pure masterclass play and cemented her place as one of the favorites for the upcoming Australian Open. It was the 24-year-old’s sixth career title and first since Indian Wells last year.
Almost a year after competing in the Australian Open final, when Sabalenka defeated Rybakina in a tense three-setter, the tables were radically changed when the 2022 Wimbledon champion broke Sabalenka three times in a one-sided opening set of only 24 minutes on Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane. The Belarusian Sabalenka ultimately broke serve in the ninth game, but Rybakina soon broke back for a 3-1 lead in the second.
In the 11th game, Sabalenka held serve for the first time in the match, but it was too little and too late, as Rybakina took out the match on her first match point opportunity after the defending Australian Open champion pushed her attacking forehand wide. It was a strong week for Rybakina, who conceded only 15 games in five straight-set victories.
Sabalenka’s string of 15 wins on Australian soil ended with a setback, which included a title run in Adelaide last year before her Grand Slam debut at Melbourne Park, but the World No.2 made the best of a rare tough defeat. The summit clash was the first in Brisbane to feature the top two seeds since 2015 when No.1 Maria Sharapova defeated No.2 Ana Ivanovic in three sets.
I would like to say congrats Aryna for a great week and great season last year and hopefully, we meet in Melbourne, Rybakina said after winning the title. Despite the score, it’s always tough to play against you, we always push each other. It was an interesting match. We showed some great tennis and hopefully, we’ll do better at the Australian Open, she added.
Meanwhile, second-seeded Grigor Dimitrov defeated top-seeded Holger Rune 7-6 (5), 6-4 in a closely fought men’s final which stretched over 2 hours and 13 minutes. Fans witnessed only one break of serve in the match. Bulgarian Dimitrov claimed his ninth career title and his first since the ATP finals in 2017.
