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Already today, Britain’s Neal Skupski and his American partner Christian Harrison have claimed the men’s doubles title in their first slam together. Skupski – who also triumphed at Wimbledon in 2023 – and Harrison beat the Australians Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans 7-6, 6-4. It continues Britain’s recent advances in men’s doubles – it’s the third time in the past five majors that one British player has triumphed in the event and there are no less than five players currently in the world’s top 10 – and we can only hope that some of that success will extend into the singles in the future too. Having Jack Draper back fit and healthy would help; he could return after five months out injured in Britain’s Davis Cup tie against Norway next week.
Preamble
G’day everyone! After this tournament suddenly and belatedly exploded into life yesterday with two men’s semi-finals for the ages, today we could have another blockbuster as Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina face each other for the women’s title, in a repeat of the 2023 final.
Sabalenka came from a set down then to win her first grand slam, and has gone on to not only become a four-time major champion and undisputed world No 1 but accumulate serious numbers on hard courts that have surpassed even some of Serena’s stats. This is Sabalenka’s seventh consecutive major final on the surface – something matched only by Martina Hingis and Steffi Graf in the open era – and victory would secure her third Australian Open title in four years. She’s the female version of Jannik Sinner on hard courts – well, Sinner before he lost to Novak Djokovic.
But Rybakina, when she’s on her game, is capable of taking the racket out of anyone’s hands, Sabalenka included. After injury, illness and the suspension of her coach, the 2022 Wimbledon champion is playing some of her best tennis in three years, underlined by her statement victory over Sabalenka nearly three months ago to win the season-ending WTA Finals.
Rybakina may be the world No 5 but these are the best two players in the world right now, who have shown they can bring out the best in each other on the biggest stages. Despite the variation Sabalenka has added to her game, this will essentially be power vs power and first-strike tennis to take the breath away, with the contrast in personalities between the heart-on-her-sleeve Belarusian Sabalenka and clinically composed Russian-born Kazakhstani Rybakina making this all the more absorbing.
The players will arrive on court at about: 7.30pm Melbourne time/8.30am GMT. Don’t go anywhere!
