Net gains

Aryna Sabalenka falls to the ground after triumphing over Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in the Australian Open women’s singles final in Melbourne. Sabalenka, from Belarus, became the first neutral athlete to win a singles grand slam tournament since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Asked if not having the flag associated with her name took away from her victory, Sabalenka shrugged: “I think everyone still knows that I’m a Belarusian player. That’s it.”

With her first major title, the fifth seed returns to No 2 in the world rankings, equalling her career-high placing. She is unbeaten in 2023, winning her first 11 matches of the season with two titles to her name.

Last year, Sabalenka arrived in Australia in one of the most difficult periods of her career. Her serve had completely deserted her. She spent her time in Adelaide throwing

in underarm serves because she simply could not serve.

But Sabalenka never stopped trying to improve. Most importantly, she learned to respect her own talent. “I always had this weird feeling that when people would come to me and ask for signature: ‘Why are you asking for signature? I’m nobody. I’m a player. I don’t have a grand slam.’ I just changed how I feel. I start to respect myself more,” she said.

A year ago, Novak Djokovic was deported from Australia on the eve of the tournament after attempting to enter the country with an exemption from Covid vaccination. This time, he left Melbourne as men’s singles champion once more.

The Serb expanded an unprecedented era of dominance with a straight-sets victory over Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas to win a record-extending 10th Australian Open title. He equals Rafael Nadal’s all-time men’s singles record of 22 grand slam titles, with the 10th crown at Melbourne Park a peerless marker of his dominance.

Djokovic is just the second man in history to win 10 or more singles majors at any grand slam tournament, after Nadal’s 14 French Open titles. He returns to world No 1 for the first time since June last year, when he lost the top ranking to Daniil Medvedev.

One notable absence was Djokovic’s father, Srdjan, after being filmed taking a photograph with a pro-Vladimir Putin fan last Wednesday. Srdjan Djokovic was onsite, however, and he embraced his son by the locker room afterwards.