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Elena Rybakina surprised top-ranked girls’s tennis professional Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday to win her first Australian Open and her second Grand Slam title, incomes redemption after her earlier loss to Sabalenka in 2023.
Rybakina, 26, rallied from 3-0 within the third set to defeat Sabalenka 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 and win her second title since claiming her first at Wimbledon in 2022.
Elena Rybakina performs a backhand return to Aryna Sabalenka in the course of the girls’s singles ultimate on the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, on Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Picture/Dita Alangkara)
“It’s an unbelievable achievement, I’m tremendous joyful and proud,” Rybakina mentioned of her win, chatting with the media after the match. “It was a very robust battle and I didn’t count on to show it round… Aryna is a really robust opponent, however I’m tremendous joyful that this time I’m holding the trophy.”
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Rybakina had an opportunity in opposition to Sabalenka in 2023, however it might be Sabalenka’s first of back-to-back Australian Open titles.
“Final time, I used to be shut however I didn’t actually play that nicely,” Rybakina recalled. “I knew even at this time if I get an opportunity to guide that I might want to attempt some dangerous pictures and simply go for it.”
It was a troublesome loss for Sabalenka, who fell in final 12 months’s Australian Open ultimate to American tennis star Madison Keys.
Aryna Sabalenka reacts throughout her match in opposition to Elena Rybakina within the girls’s singles ultimate on the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, on Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Picture/Aaron Favila)
“In fact, I’ve regrets. Whenever you lead 3-Love after which it felt like in just a few seconds it was 3-4, and I used to be down with a break — it was very quick,” Sabalenka mentioned. “Nice tennis from her. Possibly not so sensible for me.
]”However as I say, at this time I’m a loser, perhaps tomorrow I’m a winner. Hopefully I’ll be extra of a winner this season than a loser. Hoping proper now and praying.”
Saturday’s win moved Rybakina into the No. 3 spot.
Elena Rybakina holds the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup aloft after defeating Aryna Sabalenka to win the ladies’s singles ultimate on the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, on Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Picture/Dita Alangkara)
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The Related Press contributed to this report.
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