Posted: 22.03.2023 12:59:00

On the verge of victory

Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka lost in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament in American Indian Wells with a prize fund of $8.8 million

Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka

In the decisive match, the world No. 2 in tennis lost to the representative of Kazakhstan Elena Rybakina, who occupies the 10th place in the world ranking, — 6:7 (11:13), 4:6. The first game turned out to be extremely tense and lasted almost an hour and a half. The Belarusian led 4:2, then lost 5:6, then played 4 set points in a tie-break, then she could take the lead herself, but in the end she still lost. In the second set, Rybakina acted much more confidently and managed to win. Sabalenka made 10 double faults on her serve, while her opponent had only two. The meeting lasted exactly two hours. At the end of January, Aryna Sabalenka beat Rybakina in the final match of the Australian Open.
On the way to the finals in Indian Wells, Sabalenka alternately defeated Russian Evgeniya Rodina (world No. 427), Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko (world No. 95), Czech Barbora Krejčíková (world No. 16), American Coco Gauff (world No. 6) and Greek Maria Sakkari (world No. 7).
Aryna Sabalenka played for the 20th time in the finals of tournaments under the auspices of the WTA and gained victory in 12 of them.
After reaching the final of the prestigious tournament in American Indian Wells, the best Belarusian tennis player has 6740 points in her asset, she remained in second place in the ranking of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). Elena Rybakina, who defeated Sabalenka in the decisive match, moved up to 7th place. Former world No. 1 in tennis Belarusian Victoria Azarenka is in 16th position with 2182 points. Aliaksandra Sasnovich is in 45th place (1174 points).

Based on materials of belta.by