In the Australian sun

Aryna Sabalenka started the year with a victory at the tournament in Adelaide

Aryna Sabalenka won the first title in a year and a half. At the opening tournament of the season in Adelaide, Australia, the Belarusian was without  real competition round after round, and in the final she dealt with the Czech Linda Nosková. At the same time, Sabalenka did not give up even one set to her competitors!

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Last season for the first racket of Belarus was not the best. She repeatedly reached the semi-finals and finals at various tournaments, but she never managed to win. After the triumph in Adelaide, Aryna said: a lot of time has passed since the last title won in May 2021 in Madrid, and the sensations experienced after victories have almost been forgotten. Now she was able not only to remember, but also to enjoy them in full.
At the tournament in Adelaide, Aryna started from the second round, and this match already showed that one should not expect an easy walk: the fight against the Russian Lyudmila Samsonova was a stubborn struggle and ended with a score of 7:6, 7:6. After that, on the way to the final, the Belarusian beat the Czech Marketa Vondrousova, the Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu. In the final, she had a meeting with, perhaps, the main opening of the tournament in Adelaide. Linda Nosková recently turned 18 years old. In 2021, she won Roland Garros Junior, and last year she made it to the main draw of the Grand Slam tournament for the first time. The Czech started her performance in Adelaide with a qualification, where she coped with two Russians — Anna Kalinskaya and Anastasia Potapova. Linda said: she expected to win the first round of qualification, then, perhaps, to go further. She managed to do even more. In the 1/16 finals, she forced Daria Kasatkina to leave the tournament, then she beat the American Claire Liu, knocked out Victoria Azarenka, and in the semi-finals she sensationally defeated Ons Jabeur from Tunisia in three sets — 6:3, 1:6, 6:3. But Linda failed to break the resistance of Aryna Sabalenka — she lost to the Belarusian with a score of 3:6, 6:7.
The title obtained in Adelaide was the eleventh in Aryna’s career. The tennis player said, “I am very happy with another title won, it was a great week. I have enjoyed every moment here in Adelaide and am satisfied with my performance. My serve helped me a lot, especially in the final match. I was able to put pressure on Linda during her serve. I think that’s why I won. I feel that I am ready to show my best side, and I am ready for even more serious battles.”
During a press conference after the tournament, Aryna Sabalenka admitted that she had changed a lot since winning the tournament in Madrid, 
“I think I'm different now. I'm older. Maybe I have become a little smarter, calmer. Everything has changed a bit in psychology, technology, everything.”
Aryna Sabalenka still occupies the fifth line in the world ranking, but now the gap from the fourth Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia is only 75 points. As for other Belarusian players, Victoria Azarenka moved up one line to 25th position, Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who was eliminated in the first round of the tournament in Adelaide, lost eight lines and is now 38th. Ilya Ivashka, who withdrew from the qualification of the Adelaide-2 tournament, which started the day before, is in 72nd place in the rating of the Association of Tennis Professionals, Egor Gerasimov is in 367th place.
Ahead is the first Grand Slam tournament of the season — the Australian Open. The organisers allowed tennis players from Russia and Belarus to participate in it, despite the fact that Ukrainian Ambassador to Australia Vasily Miroshnichenko demanded that the Australian Tennis Federation ban athletes from the two countries from participating in this tournament. The Australians remained adamant, “Players from Russia and Belarus can participate in international tennis tournaments on an individual basis, which will happen at the 2023 Australian Open games.”


By Tatiana Pastushenko