Greats of the game are in awe of Aryna Sabalenka after she overcame her glaring serving troubles en route to claiming grand slam glory.
Sabalenka tallied a tour-topping 428 double faults in 2022, 139 more than second on the list, and continued to be haunted tonight.
The Belarusian registered seven double faults in the final against Elena Rybakina. She also double faulted while she had a championship point, before steadying herself and eventually closing out victory in three sets.
“Aryna Sabalenka … I’m really happy for her because we all have demons in our game, don’t we, sometimes?” Todd Woodbridge said on Nine’s coverage.
“You’ve got to find ways to get over them and she did tonight with her serve.
“What she’s worked on … she must feel so proud for herself.”
Casey Dellacqua also had high praise for the 24-year-old.
“There’s no one that’s done all of the one-percenters better than Sabalenka, whether it’s be get the biomechanist to work on her serve, whether it’s her mentality, whether it’s her physicality.
“She deserves this win so much.”
