the belarusian Aryna Sabalenka (5) and the Kazakh Elena Rybakina (22) will meet this Saturday in the final of the Australian Open, in a clash that will serve to determine who is the best puncher on the circuit.
The final will be held at Rod Laver Arena starting at 7:30 p.m., on a day when the organization may close the retractable roof after a weather forecast warned of extreme temperatures that could exceed 36 degrees at some point in the afternoon.
This will be the first ‘major’ final for a Sabalenka to face the reigning champion of Wimbledon after getting through all the previous rounds without dropping a set.
“She’s a good player, very aggressive and already has experience from winning Wimbledon,” Sabalenka said with a laugh after her convincing semifinal win over Poland’s Magda Linette.
However, the fifth seed has a 3-0 head-to-head in his favor, after the match at Wimbledon and Abu Dhabi in 2021, as well as in Wuhan in 2019. The three duels will be They resolved in the third set.
Both tennis players have similar playing styles. They build points from a strong and efficient serve and finish, if the serve is not yet final, with furious hits from the baseline with the intention of not returning the ball.
This translates to 47 aces and 158 Kazakh winners, as well as 30 aces and 196 Belarusian winners since the competition began.
The statistics also reveal that the average number of strokes that make up their points is 3.48 for Rybakina and 3.23 for Sabalenka, and both players have positive results when rallies are kept in short exchanges , as well as not very positive when the points exceed four. strokes.
Not only were they able to hold their matches thanks to blistering serves, the reigning Adelaide and Wimbledon champions were able to maintain a high return percentage in play. Belarusians have 72%, while Kazakhs have 82%.
The Minsk player was more decisive under pressure on his serve after scoring 80% of break point chances against, a figure that contrasts with 60% for his rival.
The smoothest aspect of Sabalenka compared to the start of last season is the serve. The Belarusian said after his last victory that the solution to the double faults that have soured his presence in tournaments for several months was the result of “working hard with his team”.
The Belarusian has been knocking on the door of the main events of the WTA circuit for the past five years but her insistence intensified from 2020 when she finished the season in the top-10 after her three crowns in Doha, Ostrava and Linz.
In 2021, he finished the year as world number two by being champion in Madrid and Abu Dhabi; while in 2022 she lost in three sets to Polish Iga Swiatek (1) in the semifinals of the US Open and in the final to French Caroline Garcia (4) in the WTA Finals.
The Muscovite Rybakina, who entered one of the names to consider in the WTA ranking after her unexpected Wimbledon title in 2022, did not have to undergo this long process.
The 24-year-old Belarusian will have the opportunity to confirm his certain emancipation with a Grand Slam title that will conclude his growth as a tennis player who has been getting a higher quota in recent years.
For his part, the 23-year-old Kazakh will be able to confirm his ability to offer his best repertoire in the best championships in the calendar, such as the big four, after his success in All England Tennis Club last July.
Both players will arrive in full physical condition after failing to reach nine court hours in their first six meetings at Melbourne Park.
Sabalenka prevailed in previous rounds against Czech Tereza Martincova, American Shelby Rogers, Belgian Elise Mertens (26), Swiss Belinda Bencic (12), Croatian Donna Vekic and Polish Magda Linette.
Rybakina reached the final after defeating the Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto, the Slovenian Kaja Juvan, the American Danielle Collins (13) in which she lost the only set of the competition, the Polish Iga Swiatek (1), the Latvian Jelena Ostapenko (17) and Belarusian Victoria Azarenka (24).
Source: La Verdad
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