Australian Open 2023 Women Final Start Time Aryna Sabalenka vs Elena Rybakina Live Result, Tickets

Alina Korneeva, also known as the “white flag final” and both players came from Russia, prevailed 6:7, 6:4, 7:5.

After covering the distance in suffocating conditions, Andreeva broke down in tears as the pair met to shake hands at the net.

Rather than celebrating her win right away, Korneeva spent time comforting her rival in scenes that earned the “teen queen” a thunderous round of applause.

The two are regular doubles partners, which makes the moment even more emotional.

WOMEN’S FINAL – HOW IT’S WON

At the highest level, tennis is a sport played with the heart but won and lost in the mind.

Aryna Sabalenka has always had a lot of tickers, but her mind has failed her.

As recently as last year, Sabalenka feared that she would never reach her enormous potential because she could no longer land her serves.

The harder she tried, the worse her serve got.

In 2022, she served up 428 double faults, 151 more than any other player on the women’s tour.

Frustrated and embarrassed, she hired a psychologist to help her clear her head and salvage her career.

Fast forward to 2023, Sabalenka dropped the shrink after she found she had to fix herself.

“I’ve decided not to work with a psychologist anymore,” she said. “Hoping someone to solve my problem doesn’t solve my problem.

“I just have to take that responsibility and deal with it.”

The fresh take on how to deal with her mental demons has paid off spectacularly.

Not only has the 24-year-old Belarusian gotten over her serving problems, she’s also almost unstoppable and is now in her first Grand Slam final – Saturday’s Australian Open decider against Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan.

Rybakina has more experience in the biggest matches, having won Wimbledon last year, but Sabalenka has form and momentum on her side.

Incredibly, she hasn’t lost a single set in any of her 10 games in 2023 – the four she played in winning the Adelaide International plus the six she reeled off at Melbourne Park – and has Rybakina in each of her three previous encounters beaten .

More importantly, she believes in herself and trusts her back-to-basics approach to dealing with pressure.

“I won’t do anything else,” said Sabalenka. “It’s okay to be a little nervous. It’s a big tournament, a big final.

“If you start trying to do something about it, it’s going to get bigger.

“I try to shout less after some bad points or some mistakes. I’m just trying to hold myself, stay calm and just think about the next point.

“Actually, I’m not that boring, I guess. I’m still screaming ‘come on’ and all that stuff. I don’t think it’s that boring to watch me. Hopefully. Just fewer negative emotions.”

Sabalenka’s coach Anton Dubrov stood by her in her darkest days and although he said it was a tough time for everyone, he now sees it as a blessing in disguise.

“What happened last year was maybe positive for Aryna,” Dubrov said.

“She understands that she’s actually very tough… and a pretty great player, and she can keep up no matter what’s happened to her.

“She can serve up 25 double faults but she’ll still fight like she did in the third set.”

Sabalenka’s fitness coach Jason Stacy agreed, saying her resilience and dedication to solving her problems is inspirational and could be a sign that her best is yet to come.

“There are many seeds that we have been planting for several years that have grown slowly over time,” he said.

“The experience over the last year of facing a lot of humility and fear and instead of avoiding it or trying to work around it, she went right through it and met it openly.

“All we wanted in the end was to give her that understanding and that sense of control so she wasn’t out there with 50 different voices in her head freaking out and everywhere.”

Sabalenka has every reason to be optimistic about her chances of winning the Australian Open final as she has no mental scars from playing or watching her opponent.

Her first win against Russian-born Rybakina came in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in 2021, won by Australia’s Ash Barty.

Sabalenka missed a chance to play Barty in the final after losing an lead against Karolina Pliskova, and then missed the entire tournament in 2022 when Wimbledon banned all Russian and Belarusian players because of the war in Ukraine.

Rybakina played brilliantly, but her performance won’t worry Sabalenka because she wasn’t even paying attention.

“I didn’t see Wimbledon at all last year. I felt really bad about it,” she said.

“SERENA-LIKE” ELENA READY TO END TENNIS’ INCREDIBLE RUN

Elena Rybakina has “Serena-like” qualities and is capable of winning 10 major titles.

That’s commentators Sam Smith and Todd Woodbridge’s take on the 23-year-old’s second final appearance in a Grand Slam singles at Melbourne Park.

The reigning Wimbledon champion rode her devastating serve to a showdown with No. 5 Aryna Sabalenka and didn’t drop a set en route to the final.

Her win at Wimbledon was partially overshadowed by the All-England Club’s ban on Russian players – she was born in Moscow but moved to Kazakhstan in 2018 – which meant no points were awarded by the WTA for her win.

“We’re starting to realize we didn’t appreciate what a great player we have in the making,” said Smith, a former UK No. 1.

“Yes, she won Wimbledon but I don’t think we gave her enough credit. If you watch her closely, the stroke production in everything she does, the composure, we might see someone who could really potentially win 10 slams.

Woodbridge compared Rybakina’s style of play to Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam winner who dominated women’s football for the past 20 years before retiring last year.

“Because she’s quiet and her personality is a little subdued, her tennis isn’t like that,” Woodbridge told Channel 9. Hasn’t talked about it yet.

“By winning Wimbledon very quietly she has a great opportunity to add more… I think if she stays in her style she could win by double figures at those tournaments.”

After getting past two-time winner Victoria Azarenka in the semifinals, Rybakina, the 22nd seed, showed she was much more relaxed than she was at Wimbledon as she defeated Ons Jabeur.

“It was a bit easier for me this time, also compared to Wimbledon, when I played quarters, semifinals and finals for the first time,” said Rybakina.

“Everything was new at Wimbledon. Now I understand more or less what to expect. It’s nervous no matter what because it’s a final.

“Even in the semifinals, you’re always nervous before the game. But this time I was more focused on the game, what I need to do and maybe not thinking about what’s to come or what’s going to happen in the environment and stuff like that.”

Rybakina, whose idol was Roger Federer, will have her parents Andrey and Ekaterina, as well as her sister Anna in her box for the final, which did not happen at Wimbledon.

“They don’t see me play live very often, so I think it’s already a big result this time,” she said. “No matter how I play in the final, I think they are very proud and happy.”

Azarenka will also be an interested observer on Saturday night as she is also keen to see where Rybakina will be in five years, the dominant force some are predicting or another rising star to burst into flames.

“I think she’s a great player. She obviously has great weapons and I think if she improves some areas, she will be better too,” Azarenka said.

“She hasn’t really had that consistency all year and I want to see how she’s in five years … it’ll be interesting.”

Originally published as Australian Open 2023 Aryna Sabalenka v Elena Rybakina: All Live Results, Action and News from the Women’s Final