No-nonsense Rybakina and Dimitrov bag Brisbane titles

Brisbane — Elena Rybakina handed Aryna Sabalenka a harsh reality check on Sunday before her Australian Open title defence with a crushing 6-0 6-3 victory in the final of the Brisbane International.

The men’s final that followed on Pat Rafter Arena was a much tighter contest with former world No 3 Grigor Dimitrov claiming his first ATP title in more than six years with a 7-6(5) 6-4 victory over Danish young gun Holger Rune.

World No 2 Sabalenka came into the women’s final, a rematch of last year’s Melbourne title-decider, on a 15-match winning streak in Australia but was completely outplayed by former Wimbledon champion Rybakina.

The relentless Kazakh wrapped up the first set in 24 minutes on the back of three breaks of serve as Sabalenka, shaking her head at herself in disbelief, sprayed 12 unforced errors across the Queensland Tennis Centre show court.

Rybakina broke Sabalenka again to start the second set and, though there was more fight from the other side of the net, sealed her sixth career title when the Belarusian crashed another forehand wide.

“I want to congratulate Aryna on a great week and a great season last year and hopefully we will meet again in Melbourne,” the Moscow-born world No 4 said in the on-court presentation ceremony.

“Despite the score, it’s always tough to play you. We push each other, which is great, and we improve in this way, so I hope that continues.”

The pair split their four meetings in 2023 with two wins apiece, though Sabalenka won the match that mattered most to claim her first Grand Slam title at Melbourne Park.

“Honestly, I don’t know where to start,” said a laughing Sabalenka. “Elena, wow, I don’t know where to start. Thank you for those three games, at least we made it look like a fight.

“Couple of words to my team, you did a bad job today; 6-0 6-3, that’s all your fault guys … Hopefully we’ll be better at the Australia Open.”

Dimitrov’s experience and court craft won out over Rune’s youthful athleticism in the men’s final, an engrossing contest with plenty of high-quality tennis that kept the crowd gripped for more than two hours.

The 32-year-old Bulgarian, whose game was once compared to that of Roger Federer, clinched a tight first set in the tiebreak, but world No 8 Rune would not back down.

The Dane, who regularly found aces to get himself out of trouble, fought off a break in a 17-minute game early in the second set and saved three championship points to hold for 4-5.

Dimitrov served out to love, however, claiming the ninth title of his career, and a first since he won the ATP Tour finals in London in November 2017, with a beautifully judged backhand at the net.

“It’s been a while since I held one of these,” an emotional Dimitrov said after receiving the trophy for the second time after his 2017 Brisbane triumph. “I’m fairly tired and I’ll take a few days off but I’m really happy to be in Australia. I’ll keep on going and yeah, onto the next one.”

Russia’s Andrey Rublev began his season by winning the Hong Kong Open where he beat Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori 6-4 6-4 in the final to claim his 15th Tour-level title.

Ruusuvuori had shocked Rublev in a marathon encounter in Cincinnati in 2023, where the Russian was seen crying into his towel during the final set, but this time he made no mistake as he wrapped up the contest in 78 minutes.

“I enjoyed my week a lot here. It is a great feeling to start the season with the title,” Rublev said. “I played a high level in the final. It will give me more confidence for Australian Open.”

The year’s first Grand Slam begins on Sunday and runs to January 28.

Reuters