Brisbane International: Rybakina demolishes Sabalenka in final; Dimitrov defeats Rune to win first title since 2017

Elena Rybakina sent out a warning to her rivals ahead of the Australian Open after overpowering Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets in the Brisbane International final on Sunday. Additionally, Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov pulled off an upset victory over Denmark’s Holger Rune to collect his first title in more than six years. Rybakina needed just 73 minutes to hammer Belarusian Sabalenka 6-0, 6-3, winning the first eight games in a row in what was a rematch of last year’s Australian Open final. The Russian-born Kazakh, ranked fourth in the world, won her sixth WTA title in the process and enters the year’s first Grand Slam full of confidence. “Despite the score it’s always tough to play against Aryna,” Rybakina said. “We always push each other, which is great, and we improve this way so hopefully we can continue.” The 2022 Wimbledon winner was in irresistible form all week, spending only three hours and 40 minutes on court in her four matches. The final was expected to be a different challenge — the two players had met seven times previously with all but two of those matches going to three tough sets, including last year’s Australian Open final. But Rybakina soon put those expectations to bed with a blistering start, racing through the first set in 24 minutes, only dropping three points on serve. She outshone the Belarusian in all aspects, serving beautifully and hitting her groundstrokes with power and depth.

A trophy worthy of a smile 😉🏆

Elena Rybakina puts on a masterclass against Aryna Sabalenka 6-0, 6-3 to claim career title No.6 in Brisbane!#BrisbaneTennis pic.twitter.com/cN0OiJ3r8E

— wta (@WTA) January 7, 2024

Sabalenka also had an impressive run to the final, but she appeared out of sorts and made a host of unforced errors. She finally got on the board when she surprisingly broke Rybakina’s serve at 0-2 in the second set, but dropped her next serve and there was no way back. Sabalenka saw the humorous side during the presentations, laughingly blaming her own team for the loss. “Congratulations to my team,” she said. “6-0, 6-3. That’s all your fault guys. “Of course we should have finished this week differently but I think we showed some great tennis,” she added. “Hopefully we’ll do better at the Australian Open.” Dimitrov pulls off upset win over Rune Bulgaria’s Dimitrov claimed his first title since 2017 with a 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 win over Rune, the world number eight from Denmark. Dimitrov was once touted as the player most likely to break the stranglehold Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray had at the top of the men’s game. But after winning four titles in 2017, including Brisbane, he never reached the heights expected of him and Sunday was a welcome return to the winner’s circle. [caption id=“attachment_13586792” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov poses with the trophy after beating Denmark’s Holger Rune in the Brisbane International final. AP[/caption] In a tight contest between two evenly matched players, Dimitrov took the few chances he had to win a tight tiebreak then break Rune at 3-3 in the second set. He held on to clinch a high quality final, winning the match with a backhand volley. Dimitrov said he had been forced to change his game over the past year to match the younger players such as Rune. “I’ve had to find a way to get to those powerful guys differently,” he said. “I’m playing a little bit differently to how I used to play before so basically I’m trying to find my way around the court against a different generation.” With AFP inputs