Aryna Sabalenka’s reign on Australian soil has extended to the Brisbane International after securing her fourth trophy Down Under since 2023 on Sunday.
A hard-fought 4-6 6-3 6-2 victory over 107th-ranked qualifier Polina Kudermetova at Pat Rafter Arena on Sunday atoned for the disappointment of defeat in last year’s final to Elena Rybakina.
The 26-year-old has now claimed 16 of her 18 titles on hard court, including two at Melbourne Park, one at Adelaide and Sunday’s Brisbane decider.
Runner-up in 2024, champion in 2025!
The best in the world’s tilt at a hat-trick of Australian Open titles starts with success in Brisbane!#BrisbaneTennis pic.twitter.com/Dq5S2GeCL0
— Brisbane International (@BrisbaneTennis) January 5, 2025
“I want to congrats Polina on an impressive week from the qualies all the way to the final, so I’m pretty sure many more to come,” Sabalenka said. “You guys are definitely doing the right things. Honestly, I really want to know every speed of our shots today. I think it’s going beat the record for sure. That was a pretty aggressive game …
“Always a fun time in Brisbane. Thank you Brisbane for having me. All the fnas, thank you guys for supporting me. I felt all of the support from the very beginning of the week til the very last point. I really appreciate it and that’s why I love playing in Australia and in Brisbane. Just overall in Australia because you guys are amazing …
“Last but not least, well guys, well done. Definitely much better work than last year. You guys are always been there for me and I will never get tired of saying thank you for all of the hard work you’ve done for me and being there for me no matter what. We’ve been through a lot and I’m really proud.”
The 21-year-old Kudermetova was chasing her eighth straight win at the Queensland Tennis Centre, having earlier taken down seeds Liudmila Samsonova and Daria Kasatkina en route, but found arguably her finest in the first set of her first encounter with a world No.1.
While the upset proved a bridge too far, the lowest-ranked Brisbane finalist was guaranteed to overtake older sister and former world No.9 Veronika Kudermetova in the rankings with a climb inside the top 60.
“Congrat Aryna, thank you for this match. This is my first time I was playing against world No.1, so I think I was playing not bad with you,” Kudermetova said. “It’s really amazing to be here because I was playing from qualies to final. It’s a really nice week for me.”
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Sabalenka’s consistent aggression set the early tone when she had points for 4-1.
The top seed managed to fend off every break point in her semifinal against 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva, however her opponent on Sunday ensured no repeat of that.
Unfazed, Kudermetova raised her aggression and found her mark with increased frequency as she broke and squared it up at 3-all.
It was a precursor of the pressure to come. She broke her more fancied foe again to set the crowd alight and secured the opening set in 40 minutes.
Trailing 1-2 and break point down, Sabalenka was a picture of composure as she drew on her superior big-match experience the turned the match on its head.
Following a racquet change, she opted for greater placement over power and the enhanced variety sparked a double break and with it the set.
Having levelled the match, Sabalenka blew open the deciding set with an immediate break and while she suffered a minor blip when she failed to serve out victory first time round, she closed it out a game later in under two hours.