Aryna Sabalenka claimed the 22nd title of her career after winning her first tournament of the season at the Brisbane International.
Sabalenka defeated Marta Kostyuk in the final, wrapping up the match in just 79 minutes, 6-4, 6-3.
The Belarusian defended her title to kick-start her Australian swing, during which she will seek to reclaim her crown in Melbourne.
How many Grand Slam titles do you think Aryna Sabalenka will win in 2026?
Kostyuk came into the championship match having earned two statement victories over Jessica Pegula and Mirra Andreeva.
It was not to be for the Ukrainian, however, who had incredibly high praise for Sabalenka after the defeat.
Marta Kostyuk reacts to her defeat against Aryna Sabalenka
In her post-match press conference, Kostyuk said: “I would say Aryna was very powerful today. I mean, some serves she was serving, I was, like, wow, it was 175 kilometres per hour wide serve.
“If you’re a tennis player, if you know tennis, it’s an incredibly fast serve for a wide serve, and it’s not like it wasn’t going into my body. It was an actual wide serve.
“My forehand slice on the return wasn’t working that well today, and I felt like she would get the advantage in the rally very quick, so I didn’t want to give her that opportunity.
“I mean, I was trying different things, and unfortunately, this slice also wasn’t working well today, like I missed most of them.
“I wasn’t in the winning position today. So it was difficult. But yeah, I mean, I tried different things
“She’s been really, really good today retrieving these balls. Like, even when they were going in, it was incredible speed.
“I actually want to know, there were some points I want to know what was the speed of the ball, because it felt like we were hitting 150 kilometers per hour, which was crazy.
“I think when I played her on clay, it’s a little bit different type of game, so her ball is not accelerating so fast as here. Like, here [it] was really difficult to even structure something in the point, because the ball was just, like, sliding on the court like crazy.”
Marta says she thinks she can crack the world’s top ten this year
When asked if she thinks she is capable of reaching the top ten this year, Kostyuk responded: “I mean, I think so.
“This is the goal, for sure, and this week [I] showed that, you know, I’m not that far. You know, I just have to keep working. So, yeah, it’s this way.
“I have a great team with me who help me recover, who will, you know, help me stay happy. I think that’s also very important.
Who is your dark horse for the 2026 Australian Open?
“I’m going to Melbourne tomorrow, and I’m very excited to see my Ukrainian family again, have some Ukrainian food.
“You know, it’s a good couple of days ahead, and I feel good. It’s another new tournament in a week, so, you know, we start again, all of us. We will see how far I can go.”
Kostyuk, whose career-high ranking is 16th, is currently the world number 26.
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