The first player in nine years to strike more than 500 aces for the WTA season, Rybakina’s serve once again saved her when it counted against Sabalenka. She saved all five break points she faced, hit 13 aces, and erased two set points in the 10th game of the second set.
She made the only break of the match count in the first set, moving ahead 4-2 when Sabalenka netted an overhead. In set two, she had four opportunities to push further ahead—two break points at 1-1 and two more at 4-4—but missed three returns. Sabalenka hit an ace on the fourth, and looked as though she was ready to turn things around with a boomerang break.
From 4-5, 15-40, it was Rybakina’s turn to escape, and she rode that momentum through to seven straight points in the tiebreaker, handing Sabalenka just her third tiebreak loss in 25 played this year.
