“She is at her best,” Elena Rybakina praises Aryna Sabalenka for improving her serve that turned out crucial in Australia
Elena Rybakina showers praise on Aryna Sabalenka's serve and reasons it for her victory in the recent Major.
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Elena and Aryna
The reigning Wimbledon champion, Elena Rybakina showers praise on her fellow Australian Open finalist, Aryna Sabalenka. Aryna had struggled very badly with her serve in the initial stages of her career. She had a high percentage of double faults back then. However, she worked hard on her serve ever since and it helped her win the final of the Australian Open 2023.
Aryna Sabalenka’s remarkable journey has earned her praise from across the tennis community. The 24-year-old Belarusian led the WTA tour in double faults in 2022, with a whopping 428 in 55 matches, but still managed to end the season in the top five. She worked so hard during this phase and it paid off so well that she could win over Elena in finals who had the most number of aces in the tournament.
Speaking to Arab News at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open this week, Rybakina said: “I think she’s a really hard worker and she did a great job. I remember how much she was struggling with the serve, and now there are still some double faults here and there, but overall the serve was really good, especially in the Australian Open final.”
She further continued praising Aryna and said “Her second serve was coming in like the first one. The speed was quite high and I think she worked really hard to get to where she is now. I think now she is at her best and will continue like this for sure.” Aryna worked with her performance coach in August 2022 to try and overcome her serving woes and it helped her immensely.
Related: Novak Djokovic auctions his 2023 Australian Open winning shirt for €11,000 for charity
Elena Rybakina suffers a shocking defeat in Abu Dhabi Open
The third seed, Elena Rybakina exits the ongoing Abu Dhabi Open after losing to the sixth seed. Beatriz Haddad Maia defeated Elena in a three-set encounter. Elena lost the match 6-3, 3-6, 2-6 exits the tournament in the quarterfinals itself. Although Elena fought hard and smashed 19 aces in the match, she couldn’t replicate her first set performance. As a result, she lost the match even after winning the first set.
Along with the Kazakhstani, many other players appreciated Aryna’s serve improvement. Some of them Belinda Bencic, Karolina Pliskova, Paula Badosa, and many more were impressed by Aryna’s serve and admitted that she can cause trouble in the upcoming tournaments. However, Elena is still brimming with confidence and looks to have a good season ahead.
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Santhosh Tenneti
(308 Articles Published)