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.
That turned out to be Sabalenka, a 24-year-old from Belarus, who won her first Grand Slam title by coming back to beat Wimbledon champion Rybakina 4–6, 6–3, 6–4 at Melbourne Park on Saturday night, using 17 aces among her 51 total winners to overcome seven double-faults….