Melbourne: The serves were big. So big. Other shots, too. The points were over quickly. So quickly: Seven of the first 13 were aces. And so it was immediately apparent in the Australian Open women's final between Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina that the one who could manage to keep her serve in line, get a read on returns and remain steady at the tightest moments would emerge victorious. "I am still shaking and super nervous. My team — the craziest team on tour, I would say. We have been through a lot of ups and downs the last year. We worked so hard. You guys deserve this trophy, it is more about you than me," said Aryna as quoted by WTA.
"I know how hard you have worked for that," Rybakina said, congratulating Sabalenka. "Hopefully we are going to have many more battles," added Rybakina. Sabalenka is the 58th different woman to win a Grand Slam title in the Open Era. The last one to do it was Rybakina at Wimbledon last year. That turned out to be Sabalenka using 17 aces among her 51 total winners to overcome seven double-faults.
Now 11-0 in 2023 with two titles already, she is a powerful player whose most glowing strength was also her most glaring shortfall: her serve. Long capable of hammering aces, she also had a well-known problem with double-faulting, leading the tour in that category last year with nearly 400, including more than 20 apiece in some matches. After much prodding from her group, she finally agreed to undergo an overhaul of her serving mechanics last August. That, along with a commitment to trying to stay calm in the most high-pressure moments, is really paying off now.
