Aryna Sabalenka wins Australian Open 2023, claims maiden major title
Fifth-seeded Aryna Sabalenka beat Elena Rybakina to lift the women's singles title at the Australian Open 2023. The 24-year-old Belarusian overcame the reigning Wimbledon champion in three sets (4-6, 6-3, 6-4) to claim her maiden Grand Slam title. Notably, she has won her 12th WTA singles honor and second of the ongoing season. We look at the key stats.
Key stats from the match
Sabalenka fired 17 aces to Rybakina's nine. She, however, conceded seven double faults to the Kazakh's one. Sabalenka converted 3/13 of her break points. She had a win percentage of 72 and 53 on her first and second serves, respectively. She collected 110 points in the match to Rybakina's 103, including 68 from serves.
Sabalenka finally loses a set
Before this match, Sabalenka had won a career-best 20 consecutive sets on the WTA Tour. She had won each of her last 10 matches in straight sets. As per Opta, Sabalenka is the third woman in this century to win her first 10 matches without dropping a set after Anna Smashnova in 2002 and Agnieszka Radwanska in 2013.
A look at the head-to-head record
Sabalenka has a 4-0 win-loss record over Rybakina in their WTA Tour head-to-head series. The duo last met in the R16 of 2021 Wimbledon, with the former winning in three sets. Earlier that year, Sabalenka won in the Abu Dhabi quarter-final as well. In 2019, she claimed a straight-set win against Rybakina in the Wuhan quarters.
Sabalenka extends her winning streak
Sabalenka has had a dominating start to the season. The world number five is 11-0 in 2023 so far. She won the Adelaide International 1 title, beating Linda Noskova in the final summit clash of the WTA 500 event. Sabalenka had reached the Australian Open semis for the first time. And now, the 24-year-old has won her maiden Grand Slam title.
A look at her journey
Sabalenka beat Tereza Martincova 6-1, 6-4 in the opening round. She beat Shelby Rogers 6-3, 6-1 in the second round, followed by a straight-set win over Elise Mertens. She then overcame 12th-seeded Belinda Bencic 7-5, 6-2 in the fourth round. Sabalenka clinched straight-set wins over Donna Vekic and Magda Linette in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, respectively. She then overpowered Rybakina in the finale.
12th WTA singles honor
Sabalenka is now a 12-time WTA singles titlist (2023 - Adelaide 1, Australian Open; 2021 - Abu Dhabi, Madrid; 2020 - Doha, Ostrava, Linz; 2019 - Shenzhen, Wuhan, Zhuhai; 2018 - New Haven, Wuhan. She has been a runner-up on eight occasions (2022 - Stuttgart, 's-Hertogenbosch, WTA Finals Fort Worth; 2021 - Stuttgart; 2019 - San Jose; 2018 - Lugano, Eastbourne; 2017 - Tianjin).
Sabalenka races to 15-5 record at AO
Sabalenka now has a 15-5 record at AO. Notably, it was her maiden appearance in a major final. She aced the proceedings on her first attempt. Overall, Sabalenka boasts a 43-19 record across Slams. As per WTA, she is the 58th different woman in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam title. The last to do it was Rybakina at the 2022 Wimbledon
