Elena Rybakina's late rally stuns Aryna Sabalenka and secures Australian Open title
The Kazakh answered the world No. 1's five-game run with one of her own, and won her first Grand Slam title since 2022.
Seeking her fifth career Grand Slam singles title, Aryna Sabalenka won five consecutive games to lead 3-0 in the third set. The titanic task appeared all but complete, and no one would have blamed Elena Rybakina for capitulating on the other side of the net.
Instead, Rybakina did what Sabalenka did—win five consecutive games of her own—then did what the world No. 1 couldn’t: close it out.
The always dangerous but still inconsistent 26-year-old put it all together Saturday night in Rod Laver Arena, and at this Australian Open, to win her second Grand Slam singles title. With an ace, she closed out a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Sabalenka to win her first major championship since Wimbledon 2022.
Rybakina has now won one hard-court tournament at the WTA 1000, season-ending tournament and Grand Slam levels. All have come at Sabalenka’s expense. Most recently, she defeated the Belarusian at the 2025 WTA Finals, 6-3, 7-6 (0).
Like last year's Australian Open final, Sabalenka won the second set but ultimately lost the match (to Madison Keys). The 27-year-old has reached four of the last five Grand Slam title bouts, but won only one (the 2025 US Open).
“Thank you to my team for always being there, for enjoying me losing finals!” Sabalenka said with a smile during her runner-up speech. “But also sometimes to win them.”
Rybakina broke serve in the very first game of the match, then a holding pattern ensued until Sabalenka broke—at love—in the very last game of the second set.
The Kazakh's eventual rally in the decider was all the more surprising given Sabalenka's pedigree on this surface: the last time she wasn't playing for a hard-court major was the 2022 US Open.
“It’s hard to find words but I want to congratulate Aryna for amazing results for a couple of years,” said Rybakina. “I know it’s tough, but I hope we’re going to play many more finals together.”
Neither player dropped a set before this final—the first time that's happened in a Grand Slam tournament since Venus and Serena Williams clashed for the 2008 Wimbledon title.
Rybakina didn't have to be perfect to win this final, but she was close to flawless when it mattered most.