Belarus tennis star Aryna Sabalenka clinched her first Grand Slam title by defeating Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina in the final of the Australian Open women’s singles competition on Saturday. Aryna warded off the Kazakh challenge by 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to win the title.
Sabalenka owns one of the most coveted titles in the sport after all the accolades and expectations from one of the hardest strikers in the game. The match featured two of the most fearless offensive players, with both striking 82 winners between them, with 51 of them coming from Belarusian.
But the undaunting play of the number 5 seed during the tense moments of the match made the difference. Rybakina made a great start to the match, clinching a closely-contested first set by 6-4. Following that, Sabalenka made a comeback with a 6-3 win in the second set. In the third set, both players were tied at 3-3.
