Schett believes Rybakina holds edge going into Sabalenka Australian Open final: "She's got the one Grand Slam title under her belt already"

Eurosport tennis analyst Barbara Schett believes Elena Rybakina holds the edge in the matchup against Sabalenka despite trailing in the H2H.

Rybakina has won a grand slam before with Sabalenka never playing in a final. That's the key difference between Sabalenka and Rybakina that Schett deems important. Playing in a grand slam finals will certainly affect Sabalenka who has not had a good track record with nerves. Rybakina is a really cold and calm player on the other hand so that might be crucial.

Speaking about the matchup, she said:

“The women’s final at the Australian Open is between Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina. Who would have thought that the two of them would meet in the final? Elena Rybakina, she has beaten the world No. 1 [Iga Swiatek] and former Grand Slam champions [Swiatek, Viktoria Azarenka and Jelena Ostapenko] to get to the final and Aryna Sabalenka, she has not dropped a set this year and she also won the tournament in Adelaide."

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Speaking further, Schett added:

“Now the head-to-head between the two of them is pretty one-sided, because Sabalenka leads 4-0. But will that come into play in the final? Rybakina has been in the final of a Grand Slam and she won that one – that was in Wimbledon last year. The two of them have very similar game styles – very aggressive, they both serve extremely well.Off the court they’re completely different. Sabalenka is outgoing, she’s laughing, she’s smiling, Rybakina is more of a shy person.”

When it comes to the result, she gives an edge to Rybakina:

“It’ll be really interesting what it will come down to,” she said. “I think the beginning of the match is going to be crucial. I give the edge to Elena Rybakina because she’s got this one Grand Slam title under her belt already.”

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