Brisbane Tennis Tournament.. Sabalenka wins title by beating Kudermetova | International sports

Al Malaeb Newspaper – Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, ranked No. 1 in the world, won the Brisbane Tennis Championship title today, Sunday, by beating Russia's Polina Kudermetova (107) with a score of 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 .

Sabalenka won her 18th career title and will be armed with high morale as she begins the campaign to defend her title of the past two years at the Australian Open, the first of the four major tournaments, next week.

Kazakh Elena Rybakina won the title in Brisbane last season, beating Sabalenka herself 6-0, 6-3.

In turn, Polina, the younger sister of 21-year-old Veronika Kudermetova, played her first final after qualifying for the qualifiers in Brisbane.

Reaching the final will allow her to break into the top sixty of the world rankings for the first time in the rankings to be announced tomorrow, Monday.

In the men's section, Czech Jiri Lehicka (28th in the world) won the title after his opponent in the final, American Reilly Opelka, withdrew after the latter was behind 4-1 in the first set.

The 23-year-old won his second title on the professional tour after winning his first title in Adelaide in January 2024.

The match lasted only 13 minutes before Opelka decided to withdraw.

Opelka, who is 2.11 meters tall, complained of pain after his semi-final victory over Frenchman Giovanni Mbeche Pericar yesterday, Saturday.

The 27-year-old American player's career, ranked 17th and currently 293rd in the world, saw a significant decline after he was absent from the field for around two seasons since late 2022 due to wrist surgery.

Opelka achieved a thrilling victory over Serbia's Novak Djokovic, the former world number one, in the quarter-finals in Brisbane.