It is almost two years since first-time Slam finalist Aryna Sabalenka and then reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina set Rod Laver Arena alight in an Australian Open final for the ages.
So much had been made of the blustery Sabalenka’s repeated Slam stumbles and those now-infamous serving yips which had previously blighted her attempts, none more so than at Melbourne Park a year earlier.
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The ice-cool Rybakina had effortlessly etched her name in history only six months earlier, but that night on the final Saturday in January 2023, when pushed to the bitter end, Sabalenka finally held her nerve.
Now a three-time Grand Slam champion and the world No.1, the 26-year-old had evolved to become what her chief rival, Iga Swiatek, dubbed “a complete player”.
“I feel like she has a complete kind of technique, like pretty smooth. She’s just solid from every position on the court, even like volleys and stuff that we don’t use, like, that often on singles,” Swiatek said.
“She has variety, and she can play flat, she can play topspin. Basically I would say that Aryna is, like, kind of a complete player.”
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One of Sabalenka’s closest friends, Paula Badosa, will temporarily become archrival on court when they meet in the first women’s semifinal at Melbourne Park on Thursday night.
The Spaniard has watched Sabalenka’s progress closely since that women’s final in 2023, and puts none of it down to chance.
“I remember a few years ago with the double faults and then she was fighting so much with all that, and then now becoming the best in the world and playing with so much confidence, I know the hard work she has put in,” Badosa told ausopen.com in Brisbane.
“Honestly, we have very similar characters, so I feel very inspired by what she’s gone through.
“She improved in so many ways. You can see it the way she plays. For me what she improved the most is how she deals with emotions. She’s a very emotional girl.
“That’s why I empathise a lot with her. But I think she controls it so well, the pressure moments, and I think that’s the big change she did on her game, also believing that she can be the best and she proved it.”
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Another of the world No.1’s close friends on tour, three-time major finalist Ons Jabeur, scored Grand Slam wins over Sabalenka before and after her maiden Australian Open title; in the third round at Roland Garros 2020 and the Wimbledon semifinals in 2023, her only two victories in six meetings between the pair.
Jabeur said the improvements she had noticed in Sabalenka were not just mental.
“She’s really doing great, I’m very happy for her,” the Tunisian told ausopen.com.
“I was watching her at US Open. I feel like the year that she had it’s been crazy to come up with, to put everything behind and just play how she played. I think that’s a great example for a lot of us.
“I think she’s a much better player [than two years ago]. She’s definitely more mature on the court, the fact that she’s making the right decisions.
“She improved her serve a lot, definitely the speed of her shots. Maybe people could see it when they’d watch us play against her, but it feels worse when you play against her, for sure.”
Former world No.5 and now commentator Daniela Hantuchova was impressed with the added depth in Sabalenka’s game even since her major breakthrough.
Where in the past there had been a tendency for emotions to gain the better of Sabalenka, the Slovak noted a shift in how she reacted to adversity.
“In the [third-round] match with [Clara] Tauson, she was really tested there. She might be struggling in the games, but right away she responds where before it would take her maybe two or three games to kind of calm down. She used to have the tendency to go from big to bigger and now, she never really tries to do that,” the Australian Open 2008 semifinalist told ausopen.com.
“She just always stays solid, stable and doesn’t really look to overhit players, just being much more consistent. What I loved in her last match, there was so much variety – so many drop shots, short angles, slice backhands, coming to the net as well.
“She’s a much more complete player, which is bad news for the rest of the field.”
Beyond her friend’s on-court evolution from unharnessed potential to the complete package and current queen of the hard-court majors, Badosa said Sabalenka remained unaffected.
“Zero at all. She’s the same funny girl, same humble girl,” she said. “It’s nice to see her grow like that, and hopefully I can get inspired and chase her a bit on what she’s doing.
“It’s very nice to see a player like her, who I know if she wins 20 more Slams she’s going to continue to be the same person. For me, that’s the most valuable thing.”
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