It is going to be a repeat of the 2023 Australian Open Women’s Final as 5th seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan made it to the Final where she will meet top seed and World no. 1 Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday night, akin to the 2023 final.
Three years ago, the contest between Rybakina and Sabalenka was a slugfest, with both players hitting the ball incredibly hard and with tremendous ferocity. It was a close game, but Sabalenka pulled it through and won her first Australian Open Title. Rybakina just missed out after playing brilliantly right through the tournament.
The Kazakh girl once again showed her class with a flawless performance coming into the semi-finals. Jessica Pegula, too, had had a great tournament. Both the semi-finalists were evenly matched, with Rybakina, in my opinion had an extremely slender edge.
Rybakina got off the blocks quickly, and before Pegula could win her first game, she was already 0-3 behind. The American, having one of the best service returns on the tour, did show some spark here and there, but Rybakina quelled everything with the help of some big serves and scintillating winners. The 5th seed won the first set 6-3 and held onto pole position.
Rybakina continued to play well and broke Pegula again in the second set and eventually managed to secure three match points as Pegula served to stay in the match at 3-5. This is where the match began to change trajectory ever so slightly.
Pegula saved three match points and won the game to make it 4-5, with Rybakina set to serve for the match. The nervous Kazakh let it slip with many forehand errors and, in the process, lost her serve as the match reached 5-5. Rybakina broke back Pegula to wrest the initiative and went to serve for the match again at 6-5. But the jittery former Wimbledon champion once again let go of the advantage as a plucky Pegula attacked Rybakina’s second serve to break back and push the game into a tie-break.
The tie-breaker was a see-saw battle. Rybakina saved two set points and then produced two terrific serves to reach her 4th match point, which she converted with a fine shot down the line, winning the tie-breaker 9-7.
It was a terrific game. Pegula had her moments, but her performance on her second serve deserted her completely. She could muster only 37% of points on her second serve, which severely tilted the balance against her. Rybakina played some solid tennis in the first set, and though she had nerves big time in the second, she managed to come through.
The Final is once again going to be a power slugfest. Will Rybakina have her revenge, or will Sabalenka win her 3rd Australian Open will be interesting to see.
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