Aryna Sabalenka has won the Brisbane International, rallying from a set down against qualifier Polina Kudermetova to sharpen her tilt for a third-straight Australian Open title.
The world No.1 looked in for a straightforward night at Pat Rafter Arena on Sunday when a Kudermetova double fault handed her an early break.
But the Russian, who will rise 50 places from 107 to 57 in the world after her dream run from qualifying, flipped the script to break Sabalenka twice and steal the first set.
Sabalenka, who has been attempting to add some subtlety to her power game, didn’t flinch and quickly regained control to run away a 4-6 6-3 6-2 winner in 106 minutes.
Sabalenka won just 65% of points on her first serve in the first set and hit seven winners to go with 12 unforced errors.
But she problem solved quickly, improving to 92% in the second and making just two unforced errors to arrest control.
A break point saved at 1-2 in the second set was the turning point, Sabalenka then using her new toy — an angled slice forehand drop shot — to break the 21-year-old’s serve.
Kudermetova broke Sabalenka when she was serving for the match, only for the favourite to produce the shot of the contest — a running forehand winner — and finish it a game later.
The Belarusian was thrashed in last year’s Brisbane decider by Elena Rybakina before winning back-to-back titles at Melbourne Park.
She is adamant she’s an improved player since then — mentally, technically and physically — dropping just one set despite tinkering with her game in Brisbane.
