Sabalenka would need every bit of her determination to avoid another big-final loss to Rybakina on Sunday.
WATCH: Sabalenka vs. Rybakina full match replay on the Tennis Channel app
She came out misfiring, went down an early break, lost the first set 6-3, and was broken again, on a wild double fault, to start the second set. Before the match, Sabalenka vowed to keep her emotions under control, but even that seemed to backfire on her. It wasn’t until she slammed her racquet after going down a set and a break that her game came to life.
From there, the match turned into a classic, and the WTA’s best of the year so far. Sabalenka and Rybakina, No. 1 and 2 in the world, traded big serves, bigger returns, and laser ground strokes for nearly three hours. Each woman found and lost and found her range, as the momentum ebbed and flowed across the net.
Sabalenka broke early in the third set, then hung onto her serve by a thread until she was finally broken at 5-4. In the next game, Rybakina saved five break points and held. In the deciding tiebreaker, the two combined for five winners.
The peak came at 5-5 in the breaker. Rybakina fired a down-the-line backhand winner to reach match point. Then Sabalenka fired a crosscourt backhand winner right back at her to save it. A missed Rybakina volley made it 7-6, and a final, unreturnable Sabalenka serve ended it. This time she could flash a look of satisfaction, rather than devastation, at her team.
