MELBOURNE: Aryna Sabalenka faced a setback in her Australian Open preparations when she suffered a defeat in the final of the Brisbane International on Sunday. Despite this, the Belarusian, currently ranked second in the world, has swiftly moved past the loss and is eagerly anticipating the commencement of her title defense at Melbourne Park.
Having already reached the finals of the US Open and the semi-finals at both the French Open and Wimbledon in 2023, Sabalenka entered Australia in excellent form, securing a spot in the Brisbane final with four consecutive straight-sets victories. Unfortunately, her impressive 15-match winning streak in Australia concluded with a 6-0, 6-3 loss to familiar adversary Elena Rybakina, who was also her opponent in last year’s Australian Open final.
Despite that blip, Sabalenka told reporters on Friday she was feeling great and “super happy to be back” in Melbourne. “I had an incredible season last year, improved a lot as a player and as a person,” she added.
“I did really a great pre-season. We worked a lot. I felt like we improved a lot. I feel really great and feel like I’m ready to go.”
In Sunday’s Brisbane final, Sabalenka didn’t put up much resistance; however, she managed to make the scoreline more respectable by winning three games in the second set against Rybakina. Despite the loss, the 25-year-old chose to focus on the positives, viewing the defeat as an opportunity to address certain aspects of her game that require improvement before the Australian Open kicks off on Sunday.
“I mean, the (Brisbane) final, Elena just played incredible tennis. She just crushed it. I tried to do my best, and I’m just thankful for those three games,” Sabalenka said. “Before the finals, I think I played really great tennis. Everything worked on the pre-season.
Everything worked on match. That’s what we are happy with.
Even though the finals didn’t go well, we still have another week.“
Sabalenka is scheduled to face either a qualifier or a lucky loser in her opening match at Melbourne Park, setting the stage for a possible quarter-final showdown against three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur. The initial Grand Slam of the year is slated to take place from Jan. 14-28.
