The flag was removed, but the victory was seized… Sabalenka won the Australian Open women’s singles
Belarusian Arina Savalenka (25, 5th in the world) reached the top of the Australian Open women’s singles, the first major tennis tournament in the 2023 season.
Sabalenka defeated Elena Rivakina (24, Kazakhstan, 25th) in the final of the tournament held at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia on the 28th, after a bloody battle of 2 hours and 28 minutes, with a set score of 2:1 (4-6 6-3 6-4). ) and ascended the throne. This was the first time Sabalenka had won her major event.
In her first set, Sabalenka made 5 double faults (0 for Rivakina) missing her serve in succession, and also made 9 errors (6) for her faltering performance. When Savalenka started off uneasy, Ryvakina did not miss the opportunity and scored 2 out of 3 break opportunities to win the opponent’s serve game, eventually taking the set.
Sabalenka turned the match around with her concentration in her second and third sets. In the second set, she only hit 7 serve aces. Sabalenka didn’t allow her a chance to break.
Even in the third set, Savalenka put in his fastest serve of the day (192 km/h) without showing signs of fatigue. She led in the number of successful attacks (18-13) and minimized her errors (9-13), putting pressure on Rivakina. In the final game, Savalenka seemed to falter, missing the championship point three times in a close battle back and forth between Rivakina and Deuce in an advantage situation, but she was finally able to laugh as Rivakina’s shots went out of the line.
Sabalenka lay down on the court the moment the championship was confirmed and shed tears of emotion. Then, he ran to the stands where his coach and team were located and hugged and cheered with them. 메이저놀이터
At the awards ceremony held after the match, Rivakina said, “I know how hard Sabalenka has been to get here. I sincerely want to congratulate you,” he said. Although defeated, Rivakina made a small impression by showing true sportsmanship.
Savalenka responded by saying, “I want to applaud Rivakina for her wonderful performances over the past two weeks. As mentioned, I will be looking forward to our next match. It would be great if that was the final stage,” he laughed, adding, “I am also grateful to the Australian fans. I was really happy to be able to play tennis in an enthusiastic atmosphere.” He added, “I want to give this honor to the team that went through many trials together last year.”
Rivakina won last year’s Wimbledon, but had to be content with finishing runner-up at the Australian Open, her second major singles final. Still, he is expected to rise to the top 10th place in his career after this tournament.
Sabalenka, who had previously advanced to the semifinals only three times (2021 Wimbledon, 2021 US Open, 2022 US Open) in singles in major competitions, was honored to win the championship trophy in the first final.
In particular, he expressed regret about running with the Belarus flag off ahead of the Australian Open this year.
The Russian-Ukrainian war, which began in February of last year, had a lot of impact on the tennis world, and the biggest change was in Russia, the invading country, and players from Belarus who were sympathetic to it.
The Men’s Professional Tennis (ATP) Tour, the Women’s Professional Tennis (WTA) Tour, and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) will immediately allow Belarus players, Russia’s ‘allies’, to compete, but not allow them to hoist the flag or play the national anthem. took action not to
Therefore, there is only an empty white ‘blank’ next to Sabalenka’s name, where the Belarusian flag should be displayed, on the ATP and WTA tour websites, various major tournament websites, and even on relay broadcasts. This day was no different.
Sabalenka previously said in an interview with local media in Australia, “We are just athletes doing sports. I don’t know why we have to be involved with politics,” he said, expressing frustration.
Sabalenka lost the flag, but seized the victory in the match. It has been 10 years since Victoria Azarenka (34, 24th) won the Australian Open in 2013 that a player from Belarus became the women’s singles champion in a major tournament. He is expected to rise to number 2 in the world.
At the end of the awards ceremony, Sabalenka said, “I will come back stronger next year, so I hope her fans will support her more passionately,” and she ended the competition.