NEW DELHI:
Elena Rybakina
heads to the Australian Open brimming with confidence following her dominant performance in the
Brisbane International
final on Sunday, where she dismantled world number two
Aryna Sabalenka
.
The Russian-born Kazakh took charge from the outset, winning the initial eight games consecutively en route to a commanding 6-0, 6-3 victory against the Australian Open champion, replicating their clash from the 2023 Melbourne Park final.
This triumph marks the world number four's sixth WTA title and arrives just a week before the commencement of the first Grand Slam of the year.
"Despite the score it's always tough to play against Aryna," Rybakina said.
"We always push each other, which is great, and we improve this way so hopefully we can continue."
The 2022 Wimbledon winner was in irresistible form all week, spending only three hours and 40 minutes on court in her four matches.
The final was expected to be a different challenge -- the two players had met seven times previously with all but two of those matches going to three tough sets, including last year's Australian Open final.
But Rybakina soon put those expectations to bed with a blistering start, racing through the first set in 24 minutes, only dropping three points on serve.
She outshone the Belarusian in all aspects, serving beautifully and hitting her groundstrokes with power and depth.
Sabalenka also had an impressive run to the final, but she appeared out of sorts and made a host of unforced errors.
She finally got on the board when she surprisingly broke Rybakina's serve at 0-2 in the second set, but dropped her next serve and there was no way back.
Sabalenka saw the humorous side during the presentations, laughingly blaming her own team for the loss.
"Congratulations to my team," she said. "6-0, 6-3. That's all your fault guys.
"Of course we should have finished this week differently but I think we showed some great
tennis
," she added. "Hopefully we'll do better at the Australian Open."
(With inputs from AFP)
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