Australian Open: Sharp, decisive Elena Rybakina outserves Aryna Sabalenka to win second major title

Melbourne: Elena Rybakina sealed the Australian Open final with an ace, a ball that skidded through the blue carpet and past world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. The 26-year-old Kazakh, a player of few words and fewer expressions, allowed herself a brief half-smile and a clenched fist to signal victory before walking over to her corner and hugging her team. The 2022 Wimbledon champion prevailed 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in two hours and 18 minutes, capturing her second major title and her first at Melbourne Park. In doing so, Rybakina reversed the outcome of the final here three years ago, when the powerful Belarusian claimed her maiden Grand Slam crown. Sabalenka’s effort echoed across the grounds, over the Yarra and through the botanical gardens into Melbourne’s central business district. It was there in her grunt, in the thud of her footwork, in the grimace and the swing that landed with force. Across the net stood Rybakina, the fifth seed and the tournament’s ace leader, a player you register more with the eyes than the ears. A year apart in age, they are divided by personality but united by a determination to prove a point at the top of the women’s game. With the roof closed over Rod Laver Arena, the finalists split the opening two sets. Rybakina seized control early, before Sabalenka, the two-time champion and now contesting her fourth consecutive Melbourne Park final, worked her way into the match, cutting angles and stepping inside the court to blunt Rybakina’s formidable serve. The 27-year-old arrived on court in a colour-block dress with a funnel collar, a surfer’s silhouette, offset by a party-goer’s collection of jewellery on her neck and ears. Rybakina, by contrast, wore an A-line dress in milk-cream with soft blue waves and tiny ear studs, choices that reflected in her tennis, sharp and decisive. Sabalenka, champion here in 2023 and 2024, then surged to a 3-0 lead in the decider, but the Moscow-born fifth seed responded, reeling her back and drawing level at 3-3 with a 180 kmph first serve just past the two-hour mark. Rybakina had two chances to break in the seventh game. On the first, Sabalenka escaped. On the second, the Belarusian left a second serve sitting in her opponent’s strike zone and then misfired on a forehand, allowing Rybakina to take the lead. The Kazakh closed in authoritative fashion in the tenth game. Sabalenka said things turned quickly in the third set. “Maybe I should have tried to be more aggressive on my serve, knowing that I had a break and put pressure on her, but she played incredibly,” Sabalenka said. “She made some winners. I made a couple of unforced errors. Of course, I have regrets. When you lead three-love and then it felt like in a few seconds it was 3-4, and I was down a break. It was very fast. Great tennis from her. Maybe not so smart for me.” Rybakina’s run in Melbourne has unfolded alongside a coaching dynamic that remains a subject of scrutiny, with her coach, the 39-year-old Croatian Stefano Vukov, back in her corner last August. Last year, the WTA banned Vukov from travelling with her, pointing to a romantic relationship that was viewed as abusive, accusations the Kazakh dismissed while continuing to train with him away from the venue. “I’d like to say thank you to my team,” Rybakina said in her victory speech, after applauding Sabalenka and thanking the crowd. “Without you it wouldn’t be possible. We had a lot of things going on. I’m really glad we achieved this result. Thank you to all of you. Hopefully we can keep going strong this year.”