The 2023 Australian Open will run from Monday, Jan. 16 through Sunday, Jan. 29, and there is a historic-high prize pool of $76.5 million (an increase from last year) on the line as a reward.
Two weeks of tennis victories at the 2023 Australian Open calls for celebration.
Sabalenka, 24, did just that as she raised a toast of champagne in her post-match press conference after defeating Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday.
Well, I will have some good pizza, of course, and a lot of sweets," the No. 5 seed about celebrating the win of her first Grand Slam singles title. "Maybe a little bit of Champagne. Cheers."
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Sabalenka also got a check worth $2.975 million AUD ($2.05 million USD) for winning the title .
Entering the final, Sabalenka had won only two major doubles titles at the U.S. Open (2019) and Australian Open (2021) with partner Belgium's Elise Mertens. The last Belarusian to win the Australian Open was Victoria Azarenka in 2013.
"Something is good about Australia for us," Sabalenka said. "10 years, it's a lot. To be honest, I didn't really watch tennis that much when she won Australia Open. But, I mean, of course, having a great player from my country helped me to kind of have this belief that I can do well. If she could, I thought if she could, then probably I can."
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Sabalenka will jump to No. 2 when the new WTA singles rankings are released on Monday. That's when her quest for the world's top ranking begins.
Winning a Grand Slam, of course, it's not the last one [goal] on my list," Sabalenka said.
Lucky for her, she will get to carry her momentum (and champagne) to the rest of the 2023 tennis season.
