BRISBANE, Australia — Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka defeated Marta Kostyuk in straight sets on Sunday to capture her second consecutive Brisbane International title and finish 22nd overall.
Sabalanka appeared in the final for the third consecutive year and the atmosphere seemed relaxed as the Belarusian prevailed 6-4, 6-3 in just one hour and 17 minutes at Patrafft Arena.
The Brisbane International is a warm-up event for the Australian Open, which opened on January 18 this year.
Kostyuk went on the offensive early, attacking Sabalenka’s second serve and recovering an early break with a brilliant shot that briefly unsettled the world number one.
However, the Belarusian’s relentless intensity and match intelligence proved decisive as she took advantage of Brisbane’s sweltering humidity to seal the first set within 40 minutes with punishing baseline play.
Sabalenka accelerated in the second set as Kostyuk wore down from physical strain.
With strong groundstrokes and deceptive shots, she forced the Ukrainian player into racking up errors and ended the match without dropping a set all week.
The atmosphere was cold after the game
After sealing the win, Sabalenka looked down at Kostyuk on the court and kissed his biceps – a possible nod to the Ukrainian’s previous comments that she had higher testosterone levels than other players.
Kostyuk said the comments in the interview last year were taken out of context, but tensions between the pair have grown further since the Ukrainian refused to shake Sabalenka’s hand after the 2023 French Open match.
The exchange resulted in a frosty postgame performance. During the ceremony, Kostyuk spoke passionately about her homeland but specifically refused to mention Sabalenka’s name.
“I would like to say a few words about Ukraine,” Kostyuk said. “I play with the pain in my heart every day. There are thousands of people now without light and hot water, and it’s minus 20 degrees outside right now, so it’s very, very painful to live with this reality every day.”
“I am very touched and happy to see so many Ukrainian fans and flags here this week… Slava Ukraine.”
Sabalenka, meanwhile, congratulated Kostyuk and said she hoped they would meet in another final soon. She also took a cheeky dig at boyfriend Georges Frangoulis during her victory speech.
“Hopefully soon I’ll call you some other way,” Sabalenka said, looking at Frangulis in the player’s box. “It just creates extra stress, right?”
Medvedev beats Nakajima in men’s draw
Daniil Medvedev then easily defeated Brandon Nakashima 6-2, 7-6 (1) to win his 22nd title.
The former world No. 1 Russian player outlasted her American opponent with a dominant second-set tiebreaker, scoring the first five points in one hour and 34 minutes to take the match.
