A 12-match winning streak into the new year! Rybakina emerges as a top contender for the Australian Open title!

Rybakina has secured another victory!

At approximately 8 PM Beijing time on January 6, the WTA500 Brisbane event held a second-round women’s singles match between two Asian competitors. Rybakina, benefiting from a first-round bye, took on qualifier Zhang Shuai and managed to rally from being down 1-4 in the second set to win 6-3, 7-5, kicking off her 2025 campaign with a win.

This match also marked Rybakina’s 12th consecutive win spanning the new year, including titles at the Ningbo Open and the WTA Finals. It’s well known that a player’s first match in a major tournament is always challenging, so Rybakina’s consistent performance to secure the win demonstrates she has maintained the strong form she showed at the end of last year.

In the contest against Zhang Shuai, serving once again proved to be the key to victory. Beyond delivering 16 aces throughout the match, the Kazakh star’s high success rate on second serves and clutch points was nearly unbeatable. Thus, Zhang’s ability to push the score closely reflects her enduring competitive spirit despite being a seasoned veteran.

“Zhang Shuai often stepped inside the court and played aggressively. I’m very eager to carry forward the good form I ended 2025 with! Hopefully, I can win a major title this year!”

“Every year when the Australian season comes around, I feel highly motivated. I really enjoy the conditions of the courts here!”

We all know Rybakina excels on grass courts, with Wimbledon being her best Grand Slam event so far. She won her first and only Grand Slam title there in 2022, marking a career milestone.

As an aggressive player, hard courts are also among Rybakina’s strongest surfaces. Her best Australian Open result to date is runner-up in 2023. That year, she defeated top players like Collins, Swiatek, Ostapenko, and Azarenka en route to the final, where she narrowly lost in three sets to Sabalenka.

Last year at the Australian Open, Rybakina reached the fourth round but was defeated in three sets by American star Keys, who went on to capture her first Grand Slam singles title at that tournament.

There’s no doubt Rybakina will be one of the favorites to win the Australian Open this year. Her third-round opponent in Brisbane has been decided: Spanish player Badosa, who came back from a set down to beat Bouzkova 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 in a three-hour match, marking her fifth consecutive win against that opponent.(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Barbie)