Aryna Sabalenka jokingly blamed her team as she suffered a 6-0 6-3 demolition job in the Brisbane International final. The world No. 2 lasted just 73 minutes against Elena Rybakina and amusingly told her coaches it was their fault in her runner-up speech. Sabalenka then tried to stop Rybakina from congratulating her team for reaching the final.
Sabalenka and Rybakina started the season with a rematch of the 2023 Australian Open final. The top two seeds in Brisbane, both women advanced to the final without dropping a set. But the world No. 4 dominated in the final, thrashing Sabalenka for the loss of just three games.
It took an hour for the 25-year-old to win her first game but she was in good spirits after the one-sided defeat, laughing as she told her team they did a “bad job”. Addressing her opponent first, Sabalenka said: “Elena, wow. Thank you for those three games, at least we made it look like a fight.”
Turning her attention to her coaching camp, the runner-up continued: “A couple of words to my team, you did a bad job today. 6-0 6-3, that’s all your fault guys.” But it wasn’t all bad, as Sabalenka also thanked them for a good tournament.
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Sabalenka and Rybakina started the season with a rematch of the 2023 Australian Open final. The top two seeds in Brisbane, both women advanced to the final without dropping a set. But the world No. 4 dominated in the final, thrashing Sabalenka for the loss of just three games.
It took an hour for the 25-year-old to win her first game but she was in good spirits after the one-sided defeat, laughing as she told her team they did a “bad job”. Addressing her opponent first, Sabalenka said: “Elena, wow. Thank you for those three games, at least we made it look like a fight.”
Turning her attention to her coaching camp, the runner-up continued: “A couple of words to my team, you did a bad job today. 6-0 6-3, that’s all your fault guys.” But it wasn’t all bad, as Sabalenka also thanked them for a good tournament.
