Rybakina plays down her Australian Open chances after Brisbane blitz

The hype around Elena Rybakina, the reigning Australian Open runner-up, has hit another level after the Kazakhstani star quickly dismantled her 2022 rival Aryna Sabalenka to win her sixth WTA title in Brisbane this week.

Rybakina’s Brisbane blitz was over in just an hour and 13 minutes, with the 24-year-old winning the first eight games of the match on her way to a cool 6-0, 6-3 victory.

The lopsided clash at Pat Rafter Arena has shaped Rybakina as an early AO 2024 favorite.

There were a few factors that went into the match too though. Sabalenka looked particularly off the boil across the 12-game contest, struggling with groundstrokes and even hitting several easier chances into the net. The defending Australian Open champion took a clothing change break after the 6-0 but it did little to change the flow of the contest in the end.

Sabalenka also appeared to be hampered by an injury of some kind and received treatment on her leg between changes of end after her one break of the match, when she went up 2-1.

Despite how lopsided the clash ended up being, Rybakina has moved to cut off any early hype—even as bookies moved her odds to $6, equal with Sabalenka’s dropping chances. Only world no.1 Iga Switek (paying $3.30 right now) is higher than either woman.

“I think the score doesn’t show the reality because all the games were quite tight, to be honest,” Rybakina admitted. “[There were a] couple of moments maybe I was a bit luckier. I knew no matter the score it’s going to still be difficult in the second set.

“It was just a few moments again where it could turn the other way around. It was not as easy as it might have looked from the outside.”

Now Rybakina prepares to jet off to Adelaide, where she will be seeded first. Because she breezed through Brisbane’s draw—she didn’t even crack five hours on-court—she is aiming to use the last WTA event before the Open to hone things.

“The plan is to go to Adelaide because this week I played really well… [but] I didn’t have enough hours, which we wanted,” Rybakina said. “This week was a bit unexpected, like, with the result.”