Aryna Sabalenka beats Elena Rybakina in three sets to win Australian Open title

Throughout the supreme winning run she has compiled to start this season, Aryna Sabalenka continually stressed that her mentality has shifted. She is more composed now, willing to work for her opportunities instead of swinging thoughtlessly for the fences. Down a set to the Wimbledon champion in her first grand slam singles final, those principles were put to the ultimate test.

Under immense pressure until the desperate final game, Sabalenka did not balk. She focused on finding solutions and after a spectacular match filled with fearless, relentless shotmaking from both players, Sabalenka triumphed 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 over Elena Rybakina to win the Australian Open.

With her first major title, the fifth seed will return to No 2 in the world rankings, equaling her career-high ranking. Sabalenka remains unbeaten in 2023, winning her first 11 matches of the season with two titles to her name.

Last year, Sabalenka arrived in Australia in one of the most difficult periods of her career. Her serve had completely deserted her. She spent her time in Adelaide throwing in underarm serves because she simply could not serve. In Melbourne, she hit 56 double faults across her four matches. By February, her coach, Anton Dubrov, thought she should find a replacement.

But Sabalenka never stopped trying to improve. She hired a psychologist, who helped her manage her emotions, before recently deciding to hold herself accountable. As her serve struggles continued throughout the season, she enlisted the help of a biomechanics expert during the summer and watched countless videos in order to improve. Most importantly, she learned to respect her own talent.

All of those decisions have paid off in full. On Saturday, she relied heavily on her serve to hold on in the tight final games. Alongside the absurd statistic of 51 winners to just 28 errors in a major final, she served 17 aces.

Although she was outplayed at the close, Rybakina herself produced some of the best weeks of her career. She played sublime tennis throughout the fortnight and, most importantly, she swiftly backed up her Wimbledon title. On Monday, she will rise to No 10 in the rankings from her current position of 25th, breaking the top 10 for the first time in her career at last.