MATCH REPORT | 2024 Brisbane International: Elena RYBAKINA opens new season with dominant Gadecki win

It was a successful opener to the 2024 season for Elena Rybakina on Wednesday morning as she eased past home hope Olivia Gadecki at the Brisbane International 6-4, 6-1 as she heads towards attempting to better her run to the Australian Open final last year later this month.

As a result, Rybakina is pretty adept to these conditions and given her heavy hitting style like Sabalenka, she thrives on these courts and it showed again in this case. Albeit only the second set was truly dominant as she shaded the opener.

Rybakina was kept away from dominating the game in the opening stanza as the Wimbledon champion had to seal a late break of serve en route to claiming it 6-4 in a good early showing from the protege of Ashleigh Barty.

But the momentum then carried Rybakina through as she targeted the second serve of Gadecki throughout the tie but had her main luck in the second set. An early break gave Rybakina 3-0 lead and she cruised from there to the victory in just over an hour. She joins Aryna Sabalenka in the next round who also opened up her account earlier in the session by seeing off Lucia Bronzetti.

After playing well in the World Tennis League before illness struck, Rybakina will hope to keep her good form up going into a tie with either Elise Mertens or Sloane Stephens and throughout the rest of the Australian summer. But overall a good start in her quest to do just that.