World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka captured back-to-back Brisbane International titles as she avoided becoming Marta Kostyuk’s latest top-10 scalp in Sunday’s final.
Sabalenka won 6-4 6-3 in one hour and 17 minutes to retain the trophy she had secured for the first time a year ago when beating Polina Kudermetova and did not drop a set all week.
Kostyuk had defeated Amanda Anisimova, Mirra Andreeva and Jessica Pegula in straight sets en route to the final but fell short against Sabalenka’s potent groundstrokes as her hopes of a second career title, after the ATX Open in March 2023, were dashed.
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Sabalenka now has 22 career titles, the third-most among active players on the WTA Tour
Sabalenka – who is now up to 22 titles, the third-most among active WTA players behind only Iga Swiatek (25) and Venus Williams (49) – will look to take this form into the Australian Open from January 18.
The Belarusian has reached the last three finals in Melbourne, beating Elena Rybakina in 2023 and then Zheng Quinwen a year later before losing to Madison Keys in 2025.
Sabalenka exacted an element of revenge on Keys this week in Brisbane by defeating the American 6-3 6-3 in the quarter-finals.
Kostyuk: I play every day with pain in my heart
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Runner-up Marta Kostyuk has beaten three top-10 players on her way to the Brisbane final
After her defeat, Kostyuk spoke passionately about the plight of people in Ukraine after further Russian bombing, saying: “I play every day with a pain in my heart. There are thousands of people who are without light and warm water right now.
“It’s minus 20 degrees outside so it’s very, very painful to live this reality every day. It’s very hot in Brisbane so it’s difficult to imagine. But my sister is sleeping under three blankets because of how cold it is at home.”
Over in New Zealand, Kostyuk’s fellow Ukrainian Elina Svitolina claimed a 19th career title by seeing off China’s Xinyu Wang 6-3 7-6 (8-6) to win the ASB Classic in Auckland.
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Elina Svitolina kisses the trophy after winning the ASB Classic in Auckland, her 19th career title
Svitolina had battled back from the brink in her quarter-final against Britain’s Sonay Kartal earlier in the week, with Kartal serving for the match at 5-3 in the deciding set before losing 7-5 in a tie-break.
Top seed Svitolina said after winning the title: “It feels amazing, especially after a not great end to last season.
“It was nice to get tough matches here this week and win the final. Hopefully we can build on that for the rest of the season.”
Bublik wins in Hong Kong to knock Draper out of world’s top 10
In the men’s event in Hong Kong, Alexander Bublik beat Lorenzo Musetti 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 to pick up his ninth career title and fifth in eight months.
The Kazakh has also moved into the world’s top 10 for the first time, pushing Great Britain’s Jack Draper – who remains out of action with an arm injury and will miss the Australian Open – down to 11th
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Bublik said: “I have no words. The only goal for this season was to achieve the top 10 and in the first week, I am winning the title and I have made the top 10.
“If you had told me that last April, I would have never believed you. For me standing here, it is a big pleasure and I hope to continue in the same way.”
Italian player Musetti remains without a title since October 2022 after a seventh straight loss in a final but has risen to a career-high No 5 in the rankings, leapfrogging Australia’s Alex de Minaur and Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime.
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Russia’s Daniil Medvedev, meanwhile, is up two places to 12th after seeing off American Brandon Nakashima in straight sets to win the men’s Brisbane International for his 22nd career title – on the same court where Sabalenka had secured her 22nd hours earlier.
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