​Aryna Sabalenko imposed her style of play, distinguished herself especially with the power of her shots, and the fifth favorite of the Australian Open found her way to the first final of the Grand Slam tournament in her career. Magda Lynette (45 WTA) could not take her opponent out of her comfort zone, and the amazing Pole was eliminated in the semifinals by Antiposis (7-6(1), 6-2).

Aryna Sabalenko in the Australian Open final after defeating Magda Lynette

Set I

Aryna and Magda showed from the start that they really care about their tactics and each of the weapons provided tried as much as possible to dominate the rally.

The Pole was more inspired in the opening minutes, winning against serve to take a 2-0 lead. Sensing that she could not dictate the game, Sabalenko began to hit even harder with her forehand.

He continued to press back with the power and length of his shots and his footing was restored just minutes later (2-2).

From there, each athlete took advantage of the serve, and the set predictably ended in a tiebreak.

It was a difficult few minutes for Lynette, the Pole was feeling the fantastic pressure of the moment. Possessing clearly unmatched experience, Arina speculated on every vulnerability of her opponent, and the scoreboard eventually showed an incredible score of 6-0 in favor of Sabalenka. The tie-break definitely went to the fifth favorite with a score of 7-1.

Set II

Arina continued to do what she does best: hit the ball hard and open the court with her explosive forehand.

Magda tried with all her might to extinguish the force of her opponent’s blows, but she was unable to make the desired changes in direction that would destabilize Sabalenka.

The Pole knew exactly how to play against Aryana, but she could not force her stronger opponent to strike from afar, that is, implicitly from outside her comfort zone.

On the predictable and insufficiently fast second serve, Sabalenko broke, and from that moment everything went in her favor (4-1).

There was only one more moment when Lynette could (maybe) change the course of the victory, but the Pole missed two “tied” break points at 4-1.

On a wave of confidence, Sabalenko demonstrated her serve and came close to winning in one game.

Arina missed three match points until she managed to close the semifinal from the start (6-2). The game lasted one hour and 33 minutes.

Know:

• This is the first Grand Slam final in which Aryna Sabalenko will play. Previously, the athlete reached the semifinals at Wimbledon (2021) and the US Open (2021, 2022).

• Aryna’s worst results at Roland Garros: third round (2020, 2021, 2022).

• In the WTA Live rating, Sabalenko is in 2nd place (the position was in August 2021). However, he can no longer climb even if he wins the title in Melbourne (Iga Sviatek is too far away from the competition).

• Magda Lynette, on the other hand, will climb no fewer than 23 places from next week to 22nd (her best ranking so far).

Aryna Sabalenko’s trip to the Australian Open grand final

7-6(1), 6-2 with Magda Lynette

6-3, 6-2 with Donna Vekic

7-5, 6-2 with Belinda Bencic

6-2, 6-3 with Eliza Mertens

6-3, 6-1 with Shelby Rogers

6-1, 6-4 with Tereza Martyntsova

In the grand final at Rod Laver Arena, Sabalenko will meet Olena Rybakina (Wimbledon champion) on Saturday from 10:30 (LiveBlog on HotNews.ro and live broadcast on Eurosport).