He learned to tame his historical weakness, he became a hurricane and now he cries in the blue of Melbourne

The Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka won the Australian Openthe first Grand Slam of the season, after coming back from behind and winning the final this Saturday against Kazakh Elena Rybakina, current Wimbledon champion, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, thus raising the first major in the individual category of his career.

In the final played at the Rod Laver Arena, Sabalenka, from 24 years old and current number five in the world, reacted after losing the first set -the first of the entire season-, in which he lost his serve twice to allow Rybakina, number 25 in the WTA ranking, to take the lead despite conceding one of his serves. As expected, the duel between the two gunners was packed with quick points, with just 14 long rallies and seven aces in just the first 13 points. A solitary break in the fourth game was enough to win the second set, and a new break in the seventh game of the final set that led definitively to victory after just under two and a half hours of play.

In this way, Sabalenka collects the scepter from Australian Ashleigh Bartywho conquered Melbourne in 2022 before his surprising retirement as number one, and adds his first major in singles, after also winning the Australian Open (2021) and the US Open (2019) in doubles with the Belgian Elise Mertens.

The Belarusian received the cup from the American Billie Jean King (79), legend of women’s tennis, winner of 39 Grand Slam titles (12 singles, 16 in women’s doubles and 11 in mixed doubles). ”It is an inspiration to receive the trophy from your hands, thank you for all the incredible things you did in tennis. I also want to congratulate Elena, who is a great player. Hopefully we can face each other again in the major finals”, yearned for the brand new winner, who had collapsed on the blue of the field when he achieved victory, giving way to prolonged crying and hugs with his rival and his work team.

Sabalenka managed to prevail over a historical weakness of his game, the double fault, despite the fact that she registered seven throughout the final against only one of the Kazakhstani. In 2022, she committed 428 double faults, 151 more than any other player, and had matches in which she committed more than 20. At her team’s insistence, she agreed to reform her serve mechanics in August, which along with a commitment to try of keeping calm in times of maximum pressure is paying off now. “Thanks to my team, the craziest team on the circuit. We’ve been through a lot of downturns in the past year, we worked very hard. This trophy is more for you than for me”, said the 24-year-old player, nervous and unable to hide an incredulous laugh. A commendable recognition.

Sabalenka was 0-3 in the Grand Slam semifinals until she knocked out Magda Linette in Melbourne. And she also won her first final.

The Minsk tennis player recorded 17 aces, 51 winners and took 3 of 13 break chances she had. Sabalenka he won all 11 games he has played this year and in today’s final they gave up the first set of the season against a rival whom they beat the four times they met on tour.

She became the 58th woman to win a Grand Slam title since the start of the Open Era (1968). Starting this Monday, the Belarusian will return to position 2 in the WTA ranking that she already held in August 2021; while Rybakina, currently 25th, will enter the top ten for the first time.

With the tiger’s head tattooed on her forearm, the Belarusian it’s a force of nature on the tennis courts, but it has taken her years to tame her nerves. He started playing tennis at the age of six and by chance, when he was driving by with his father Sergei, an ice hockey player, past some courts and they decided to give it a try. And the memories of his first professional tennis matches are somewhat hazy. . ”I vaguely remember a match between Kerber and Serena, in the final (of the 2016 Australian Open). He had ordered a chocolate in a cafe and there was a television. But actually, I didn’t really watch tennis. I do not know why. I’m ashamed now”, he explained some time ago.

That same year, she started on the WTA professional circuit in Rabat and lost in the qualifying round of the US Open. In 2017 she enters the top 100 and ends the season ranked 78th after a final loss in Tianjin against Maria Sharapova. That same year she made a name for herself leading Belarus to the Fed Cup final.

And the following year the titles began to fall, in New Haven and in Wuhan, and his confidence in being able to win a Grand Slam was born one day. ”I started to have a little more confidence in myself. I started to understand that with work, over the years, I might be able to do it,” she recounted. And he has fulfilled that job, displaying a very aggressive game. She became a powerful player, with heavy shots and a devastating serve, but that she committed constant double faults that plunged her into abysses of doubts. She then added psychological work to her training, although she finally gave up on it before winning her most important title, the Australian Open. ”In the break between seasons I decided to stop working with a psychologist. I realized that she was the only one who could help me. I told my psychologist that I thought I had to manage all this alone because every time having someone to solve my problems, in the end it did not solve anything, ”she explained.

Arguing with her family, her team, in the end she is her “own psychologist”, she joked in Melbourne. “I know myself well and I know how to manage my emotions,” she said. Proof of her is her integrity in tense moments in the tournament, in which her service has barely failed her, so treacherous in the past. “I’ve tried to scream less when he played some points badly or committed fouls. I was just trying to hold back, stay calm and think about the next point,” he commented. A whole new attitude. She herself recognized that just a few weeks ago, she would have exploded after a match start like against the Polish Magda Linette in the semifinals, conceding a blank break at the start with three double faults. ”I would have started yelling at everyone, feeling bad, hitting my balls too hard. This time, I said to myself: ‘Come on, this happens, there is no problem.’ And I found my rhythm, ”she exposed. And this is the creed of the new Aryna Sabalenka: “It is normal to feel nervous”.

With information from AP and AFP

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