Australian Open: Rybakina reaps rewards of belief as Sabalenka left ‘really upset’ by missed opportunities

Elena Rybakina ended a wait of nearly three years for her second grand slam title as she overcame Aryna Sabalenka in the Australian Open final, with her victory a product of enduring belief in her abilities.

Rybakina won her first major at Wimbledon in 2022 and followed that up with a run to the Australian Open final in 2023, where she lost to Sabalenka.

However, Rybakina went into this year’s Australian Open having only gone beyond the quarter-finals in one of her previous 11 grand slam appearances, that coming on a run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2024.

But Rybakina did not drop a set in the tournament until Sabalenka forced a third in Saturday’s final, with the Kazakhstani showing the resilience to recover from 3-0 down in the decider to claim a 6-4 4-6 6-4 victory.

“Well, it’s an incredible achievement,” Rybakina said of her triumph. “Super happy and proud. It was a really tough battle. I didn’t expect to turn it around. Got some opportunities.

“Aryna is a very tough opponent, but I’m super happy that this time I’m holding the trophy.

“I knew that today, if I get a chance to lead that I will need to try some risky shots and just go for it. Not wait for any mistakes or even get to the long rallies.

“It’s amazing to hold this trophy this time.”

On ending her drought, she added: “Of course, we all have ups and downs. I think everyone thought maybe I will never be again in the final or even get a trophy, but it’s all about the work.

“I think we’ve been putting a lot of work in with the team, and they were also very supportive. In the moments when I was maybe not that positive, they would be helping out on the side.

“When you get some wins, big wins against top players, then you start to believe more, you get more confident. That was the kind of way.”

Sabalenka falls short again

After winning three of her first four grand slam finals, Sabalenka has now lost three of her last four after a second successive defeat at this stage at the Australian Open. The Belarusian lost the 2025 final to Madison Keys and was also beaten in the French Open showpiece by Coco Gauff before winning the US Open.

“I was really upset with myself, I would say,” Sabalenka said. “Because, once again, I had opportunities. I played great until a certain point, and then I couldn’t resist that aggression that she had on court today.

“I was just really upset with myself, but I think overall I played great tennis here in Australia. Even in this final, I feel like I played great. I was fighting. I did my best, and today she was a better player.

“So I don’t know. We’ll speak with the team. Now they try to avoid and escape me because they see that it’s not really healthy to be around me right now.

“I don’t know if I have any regrets. Maybe I should have tried to be more aggressive on my serve, knowing that I have a break and put pressure on her, but she played incredible.

“She made some winners. I made a couple of unforced errors. Of course, I have regrets. You know, when you lead 3-0 [in the third set] and then it felt like in a few seconds it was 3-4, and I was down by a break. So it was very fast.

“Great tennis from her. Maybe not so smart for me, but as I say, today I’m a loser, maybe tomorrow I’m a winner, maybe again a loser. Hopefully not. Let’s see.”