The Australian Open women’s singles final, the first Grand Slam event of the year, was compressed into a battle between the strikers.
Arina Sabalenka (24, Belarus, world number 5) defeated Magda Linenette (30, Poland, world number 45) in the women’s singles semifinal at the 2023 Australian Open tennis tournament held at the Melbourne Park Road Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia on the 26th. won 2-0 (7-6<7-1> 6-2).
Sabalenka reached the singles final of a Grand Slam event for the first time in her career. He reached the semifinals at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2021. Last year at the US Open she once again reached the semifinals, but she failed to advance to the finals.
After finishing runner-up in the Women’s Professional Tennis (WTA) Finals, last year’s ‘Wang-Jung-Wang-Jeon’, she reached the top in her first round of the Adelaide International, her opening match this year. As the only player in the tournament to enter the top 10 in the world rankings, he succeeded in advancing to the final by quelling Lynette’s fears.
In particular, Sabalenka is running a winning streak from the first round of the Adelaide International, the opening match of this year’s WTA tour, to the semifinals of the Australian Open. She faced Linnette, but in the semifinals, she did not drop a set, continuing her 10-game unbeaten set win streak.
Lynette beat her rivals one by one to reach the semifinals of the Australian Open for the first time. In particular, in the round of 16, she defeated Karoline Garcia (29, France), who was ranked 4th in the world and won the Finals last year.
However, Sabalenka’s powerful forehand attack and serve collapsed, putting her dream of advancing to the finals of her first Grand Slam tournament to a later date.
The first set was a close match leading to a 6-6 tiebreak. In the tiebreak, Sabalenka scored her streak with a strong forehand cross attack. She also had a good serve and took a huge 6-0 lead.
After winning the first set after her close match, Sabalenka’s upward trend continued into the second set. She broke the game at 1-1, and Sabalenka took the next four games to widen the scoreline to 5-1. Sabalenka, who had the chance to win, finished the match by winning the second set as well.
In the women’s singles semifinal held earlier, Elena Rivakina (23, Kazakhstan, world number 25) beat Victoria Azarenka (33, Belarus, world number 24) 2-0 (7-6<7-4> 6-3). pressed with
Rivakina won her first Grand Slam title, reaching the top of Wimbledon last year. Born in Russia, he became a naturalized citizen of Kazakhstan in 2018 with favorable conditions. At Wimbledon last year, he became the first Kazakh player to reach the top of a Grand Slam event, and also secured a ticket to the final at the Australian Open this year.
After winning Wimbledon, Livakina finished runner-up at the Slovenian Open on the WTA Tour in September last year. However, at the US Open, she was knocked out in the first round and did not perform very well.
At the Australian Open, Riva Kina announced the revival of her ‘Wimbledon Queen’ by defeating her strong players one after another. In the round of 16, he defeated Iga Sibiong Tech (21, Poland), the world’s No. 1, 2-0 (6-4 6-4). In the quarterfinals, she defeated 2017 French Open winner Yelena Ostapenko (25, Latvia, world number 17) 2-0 (6-2 6-4).
Rivakina overwhelms her opponent with a strong serve with a top speed of 189 km/h. After meeting Azarenka, who was excellent at returning and defending, he succeeded in advancing to the finals by showing unwavering concentration.
Azarenka won the Australian Open twice (2012, 2013). He reached the semifinals this year and tried to return to the top for the first time in 10 years, but failed to advance to the finals.
Azarenka succeeded in breaking first in the first set 2-2. However, Rivakina immediately responded with a break and turned the tide of the game 4-3 by protecting the sub game that followed. In addition to serving and attacking, Rivakina made the second break without being pushed by Azarenka in the ground stroke fight.
Azarenka, trailing 3-5, went in pursuit. An exquisite backhand down the line led to a goal and Azarenka took the lead and tied the score 5-5. With Azarenka’s pursuit, Rivakina’s first serve success rate dropped to 45%.
The match went to a 6-6 tiebreak, and Rivakina took a 3-2 lead. In this situation, Azarenka committed a fatal double fault. Rivakina, who did not miss this opportunity, scored consecutively and won the first set.
In the second set 1-1, Rivakina took two games and led 3-1. Azarenka pursued 2-3, but failed to turn the tide. In the second set, Livakina’s first serve success rate increased and her return became more solid. Rivakina, who broke the seventh game and won 5-2, also took the second set and confirmed her advance to the final. 먹튀검증
As for the opponents of Rivakina and Sabalenka, who reached the final, Sabalenka has the upper hand with three wins. Their most recent match was in the round of 16 at Wimbledon in 2021. In this match, Sabalenka won 2-1 (6-3 4-6 6-3).
The women’s singles final will be held at the same venue on the 28th.