After overcoming Jelena Rybakina in the championship match on Saturday, Aryna Sabalenka executed a masterful comeback to win the Australian Open singles title for the first time. The 24-year-old Belarussian had previously won the US Open championship in 2019 and the Australian Open title in 2021, but both times she shared the victory with Elise Mertens in the doubles division. That was not the only thing that had changed this year, though. Sabalenka became the first player in history to win a Grand Slam while competing under a neutral flag because all Russian and Belarusian players are compelled to compete without any national affiliation due to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Even more intriguing was the scenario for Rybakina, her opponent, who was a Russian native. The current Wimbledon champion, however, made the decision to become a citizen of Kazakhstan back in 2018, which is why she was disqualified from competition as a “neutral.” World politics, however, took a backseat on Saturday as the two great women battled it out for the title at the Rod Laver Arena until Sabalenka won the summit match 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
No Belarusian flags were permitted inside the arena due to a rule imposed by the international tennis federations, and Sabalenka’s country would not be included on the winner’s trophy either.
“I believe that everybody is still aware that I am a Belarusian player. That’s all,” she said to the media following the game. Since the beginning of the crisis in Ukraine, Sabalenka has endured a difficult road. Her rankings were significantly impacted by the Wimbledon ban on tennis players from Belarus and Russia in 2022. If the decision will still be in effect in 2023 has not yet been made public.
The Wimbledon was incredibly tough for me to miss, I mean. It was a difficult time for me,” she admitted.
But I did play in the U.S. Open right after. Right now, Wimbledon is not the topic. When questioned by media at the post-match briefing, she responded, “It’s just about the hard work I’ve done.
