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Elena Rybakina has become the first Kazakh to win the Australian Open title after beating World no 1 Aryna Sabalenka in a nail-biting final.
The historic win marked by a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory reversed the script on Saturday when 26-year-old Kazakh lost to Sabalenka in 2023 match.
After winning her second Grand Slam, Rybakina’s triumph signals a new order in women’s tennis after Sabalenka’s defeat. The Kazakh tennis star also won Wimbledon in 2022.
The tense match was a dramatic comeback for ice-cool Rybakina who won the first set early. Unfortunately, she lost the second set and was trailing 3-0 in the final set.
Rybakina fought back to win four games in a row and eventually ended the match with an ace to secure the championship.
The match proved a tough loss for Sabalenka, who had been playing perfectly throughout the tournament until this match.
Along with bagging the title, Elena Rybakina secured a record-breaking payday with a worth of AUD 4.15 million.
In a post-match interview, the winner expressed her thoughts, “I want to congratulate Aryna with amazing results for a couple of years. I know it is tough but I hope we will play many more finals together and congrats to your team for all the improvements: a great job you have done.”
She also thanked her country and team mates for their support, citing, “without you it would not be possible, we had a lot of things going on and I’m really glad we achieved this result.”
The runner-up Aryna Sabalenka also shared her post-match thoughts, “I want to congratulate you [Elena] and your team on an incredible run, incredible tennis, on such an incredible achievement.”
“Thank you to my team of course for always being there, for enjoying me losing finals,” she added.
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