To the delight of Moscow and Minsk: Rybakina and Sobolenko made it to the Australian Open final

Lost Serve by Rybakina

On Thursday, January 26, the finalists of the women's tournament were determined at the Australian Open.

Elena Rybakina and Victoria Azarenka were the first to enter the center court.

For tennis players, this was only the second face-to-face meeting in their careers - they had previously played each other at the tournament in Indian Wells last year, and then the representative of Kazakhstan won a landslide victory.

But since then, Azarenka, according to her, has gained more self-confidence and stopped looking for negativity in her own game.

In addition, for the ex-first racket of the world, this is already the ninth semi-final of the Grand Slam tournaments, and huge experience was one of her main arguments in this match.

Even if the victory in the quarterfinals over Jessica Pegula was Victoria's first triumph in the last 11 years in a duel with a player from the top five of the WTA rating at a major, no one would dare to call her an outsider of the meeting with Rybakina.

The main weapon of the Wimbledon 2022 champion at this Australian Open was the serve: in almost half of the cases, the opponents simply did not accept it (that is, they simply could not send the ball to the other half of the court), and in general, Elena won 81% of the draws from the first ball.

On account of a native of Moscow was 35 aces in five past matches, which is absolutely the best indicator among all tennis players in Melbourne.

Nevertheless, she started the game with Azarenka with a double fault, but immediately corrected herself and gave out three aces in a row.

The Belarusian understood that she needed to draw her opponent into protracted draws with all her might, and she did it best in the fifth game.

Several mistakes of the athlete from Kazakhstan led to a break point, which Victoria converted on the first attempt.

But Rybakina restored the balance in the very next game, demonstrating that she can not only serve, but also take right through.

After that, Elena won two more games in a row and went to serve the set with a score of 5:3.

However, at that moment, the killer first serve absolutely went wrong - on average, its speed is 178 km / h - which, in a match with such an experienced opponent as Azarenka, could not but lead to consequences.

On the second balls, the Belarusian went on the attack without hesitation, which allowed her to close the gap in the game, and then level the situation - 5:5.

In the next game, Rybakina found herself in a difficult situation, sliding down to 0:40 on her serve, but survived.

Azarenka, on the other hand, did not give her opponent a chance to fight, took her game to zero and thereby transferred the showdown to the plane of a tie-break.

But in the shortened game, the Belarusian made too many mistakes, including a double one, while Rybakina acted more disciplined and took the set.

In the future, the Wimbledon champion nevertheless groped for the first serve, and also significantly reduced the number of unforced errors: if in the first set she had 16 of them, then in the second - only five.

As a result, already in the third game, Elena earned three break points, and took the opponent's serve on the first try.

Rybakina made another break when the score was 4:2, forcing Azarenka to throw her racket against the court in her hearts.

But, after going out to serve for the match, the representative of Kazakhstan could not cope with her nerves and completely failed the game.

However, Azarenka also did not take advantage of the chance - losing 0:30 on her serve, she made a double mistake and gave her opponent a triple match point.

Victoria played the first one with a chic left hand down the line, but in the next draw she sent the ball into the net.

Thus, a native of Moscow for the second time in her career made it to the final of the Grand Slam tournament, winning in two sets - 7:6 (7:4), 6:3.

Rybakina thanked the audience for their support and admitted that she would be glad to once again go to the center court.

She also noted the contribution of the coaching team to her success.

“Of course they were nervous.

They want me to perform well, but today it was more difficult for me, the conditions are a little different, the ball does not fly so well.

And I'm glad that in the end I managed to win.

Of course, I will give my best in the final.

I now have some experience.

I just want to get on the court and enjoy the moment, enjoy the atmosphere.

We'll see how it goes, but I'll try my best.

And I hope that I will win, ”said the athlete.

Sobolenko's first final

No less exciting was the second semi-final between Arina Sobolenko and Magda Lynette.

Before this match, the tennis players met twice - at the Tokyo Olympics and at the tournament in Tianjin, China in 2018 - and both times the Belarusian won with a clear advantage.

The fifth racket of the world was also considered the favorite in the reporting match, because at the start of the season she gave out a record unbeaten streak for herself in nine matches, without losing a set in them.

The 24-year-old athlete reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open for the first time and reached this stage for the fourth time in the last six Grand Slam tournaments.

According to the athlete herself, she was prevented from reaching the final of the previous majors by excessive excitement and an excessive desire to win the trophy.

“I was in too much of a hurry.

She was extremely nervous.

She screamed and did it all.

Now I am much calmer on the court, ”Sobolenko admitted on the eve of the game.

But she did not start the match with Lynette too confidently - with her own pitch lost at zero.

However, already in the fourth game she was able to restore equality, and more until the end of the game, none of the tennis players managed to earn a single break point.

And at the tie-break, Arina demonstrated her best arsenal of strikes and did not leave a stone unturned from her opponent - 7:1.

In the second set, the Belarusian played even more aggressively, and most importantly, improved the percentage of the first serve.

On the other hand, the Polish tennis player, on the contrary, as mistakes rained down from a cornucopia, there were almost no actively won balls - for the whole set she brought only two to her asset.

Magda hardly managed to impose a fight even on her own serve, as a result of which Sobolenko quickly made two breaks and took the lead with a score of 4:1.

At this point, Lynette had a chance to return to the game: she made some good plays and earned two break points.

But in the first case, the net played against the polka, and then Sobolenko showed her best forehand.

After that, the polka had another chance to take the game on the Belarusian serve, but Arina made an ace at the right moment.

Lynette fought desperately and in the next game on her serve, she won three match points, but only briefly delayed the end of the game.

On her serve, Sobolenko was flawless, and ended the meeting with a spectacular back cross from the half court - 7:6 (7:1), 6:2.

“I am very happy with this victory.

Magda is an incredible athlete, she showed excellent tennis.

I didn't start the match very well, but I caught my tennis in the tie-break, started trusting my game, investing in shots.

I had a great tie-break.

And thanks to everyone who stayed and supported us.

The atmosphere was incredible,” said the Belarusian athlete after the match.

Thus, natives of Moscow and Minsk will meet in the final of the women's singles of the Australian Open.

The fact that the organizers banned the flags of Russia and Belarus from being carried into the stands in the first days of the tournament gives a special piquancy to the match.

I wonder if they have the prudence and courage to make an exception to pay tribute to the two best tennis players in the competition?

Confident tread of Korneeva and Andreeva

Russian fans also have a reason to rejoice: two domestic tennis players reached the semi-finals of the junior tournament at once.

Alina Korneeva defeated second seed Teresa Valentova in the quarterfinals with a score of 7:5, 3:6, 6:0, leaving behind 25 out of 34 rallies in the final set.

It took Mirra Andreeva much less time to get the better of Renata Yamrikhova, as she made significantly fewer unforced errors (19 vs. 35) and took her opponent's serve twice in each of the games - 6:4, 6:4.

In another match, Russian Alevtina Ibragimova lost to Japanese Sayaka Ishii in two sets - 6:7 (5:7), 4:6.

The young athlete should be doubly offended, since in the first game she first served a set with a score of 6:5, and then played two of the three set points in a tie-break.

It is with Ishii that Korneeva now has to fight for reaching the final.

In their career, tennis players have never played with each other.

And Andreeva’s next opponent will be Briton Rana Akua Stoiber, whom the Russian beat in the semi-finals of the tournament in Vigo in 2021.

Mirra and Alina held two doubles matches on Thursday.

In the quarterfinal match, they beat the Romanian-German duet Kara Maria Mester - Sonya Zhienbaeva in two sets with a score of 6:2, 6:2, but in the semifinals, unfortunately, they lost to the Japanese Haya Kinoshita and Sarah Saito - 3:6, 5: 7.