On January 8, the final of the Brisbane Championship ended, and the game broke out two major upsets. Men's singles top seed Rune lost the title 0-2, and women's singles top seed Sabalenka lost the title 0-2. The world No. 2 not only lost, but was also bombarded with a 0-6, which was very unexpected.
Sabalenka 0-2 Rybakina
Sabalenka is currently ranked No. 2 in the world and has the most consistent performance in 2023, reaching the semifinals in all 4 Grand Slams and finals, and also hitting a lot of 6-0, which is quite tough. Rybakina is currently ranked No. 4 in the world and will start high and go low in 2023. The two were the top two seeds in the tournament and made it all the way to the finals. The two have played each other 7 times, Sabalenka is 5-2, and the official is also more optimistic about Sabalenka, her odds are 1.61 and Rybakina is 2.3.
Sabalenka was slow to enter the first set, her serve was average, and she was constantly blasted out of winning points by Rybakina, and was broken in three consecutive service games, losing an incredible set 0-6.
In the second set, Sabalenka was still in a slump, and her first service game was broken again, opening the game 0-2. In the third game, Sabalenka improved the attack of the return serve, completed the break, and won the first game of the match, and the score came to 1-2. However, Sabalenka's serve form did not return, and the score came to 1-4 after being broken again. In the next 4 games, the two sides successfully held serve, and the score was fixed at 3-6, and Sabalenka lost another set, losing 0-2.
In the whole game, Rybakina led in an all-round way, serving and attacking strongly. Sabalenka didn't have many double faults today, but the offensive line was all predicted, and there were not many effective scoring methods. Rybakina was in full swing to win her first title of the year and become the favourite for the Australian Open.
Rune 0-2 Dimitrov
Rune is currently ranked No. 8 in the world and is the top seed in the tournament. He was strong and made it all the way to the final. In the final, his opponent was No. 2 seed Dimitrov. The two have played each other twice, winning 1 each.
In the first set, both of them served very well, and each easily held serve, and the score came to 6-6 to enter the tie-break. In the tie-break, Dimitrov performed strongly and won 7-5. In the second set, the score of each of the first six games came to 3-3. In the 7th game, Rune's service state fluctuated, and he was the first to be broken, and the score came to 3-4. Rune failed to complete the break, and finally lost another set 4-6, losing the championship 0-2.
Both top seeds lost their titles, which is still very unpopular. The Australian Open is just around the corner, and the top players are in different shapes, and there are plenty of favourites to win the title, so we look forward to their exciting performances at the Australian Open.