Aryna Sabalenka overpowers Polina Kudermetova to win Brisbane International

Aryna Sabalenka may not have had it all her own way.

But when it counted, the two-time defending Australian Open champion fired up to beat a brave and battling performance from world number 107, Polina Kudermetova.

The 21-year-old qualifier was eventually overwhelmed 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in 1 hour and 46 minutes.

But she made Sabalenka work, belying her lowly position and giving fair warning to the world number one that she will have to improve her game if she is to win a third Australian Open at Melbourne Park later this month.

“That was definitely a tricky match, really, really tricky, aggressive game,” Sabalenka said post-match.

In what was her first WTA final, Kudermetova showed plenty of spirit, fighting and combating the power coming her way to overcome early nerves and claim the first set.

The Russian, who will likely leap-frog sister Veronika when the world rankings are released on Monday, quickly understood that a WTA500 final was no place for the faint of heart.

Sabalenka is the sort of player who can latch onto a weakness and hammer it into oblivion — and it doesn’t even need to be that weak.

Kudermetova has shown throughout this magical run of hers, through qualifying to the final, that she is not afraid to return fire with fire.