Sabalenka Beats Rybakina for Australian Open Women’s Title

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus holds the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Trophy after defeating Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in the women's singles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, on Jan. 28, 2023 Aaron Favila/AP Photo

MELBOURNE, Australia—The serves were big. So big. Other shots, too. The points were over quickly. So quickly: Seven of the first 13 were aces.

And so it was immediately apparent in the Australian Open women’s final between Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina that the one who could manage to keep her serve in line, get a read on returns, and remain steady at the tightest moments would emerge victorious.