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World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka hilariously raised her hands to the sky and blew a kiss after finally managing to win a game against Elena Rybakina in the Brisbane International final.
Sabalenka, who was the top-seeded player in Brisbane, was playing great throughout the week in Brisbane and reached the final with four pretty commanding wins. But against Rybakina, Sabalenka stood no chance as the Kazakh ousted the Belarusian 6-0 6-3.
After losing the first eight games of the final, Sabalenka finally got on the board after breaking Rybakina in the third game of the second set. The crowd it and Sabalenka also delivered a great reaction.
Aryna Sabalenka after winning her first game of the match versus Rybakina, 0-6 0-2 down: pic.twitter.com/K1eZduCJpe
— Relevant Tennis (@RelevantTennis) January 7, 2024
Sabalenka got ousted by Rybakina in the Brisbane final
Rybakina emphatically started the Brisbane final, claiming back-to-back breaks in the second and fourth games before also serving out the next game for a 5-0 lead. In the sixth game, Sabalenka had two consecutive game points on her serve but didn’t realize them. Rybakina then earned her first set point and converted it to bagel Sabalenka.
All in all, Rybakina absolutely dominated the first set as she broke Sabalenka three times and didn’t face any break points.
After easily losing the first set, Sabalenka dropped her serve early in the second set after blowing two game points in the second game. Down by a set and a break and losing the first eight games of the match, Sabalenka earned her first break point chance in the third game and realized it to win her first game of the match.
Just when it seemed that Sabalenka may start to play better, she got broken again in the fourth game after not realizing any of her three game points. Up by a break again in the second set, Rybakina this time held on to her service for the remainder of the set to complete a pretty routine straight-set win over Sabalenka.
