For the second time in her career, Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan is a grand slam tennis champion. On Saturday at the 2026 Australian Open from Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Rybakina, the fifth seed, defeated Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
A key reason for Rybakina’s win was because she broke Sabalenka’s serve thrice, while Sabalenka only broke Rybakina’s serve twice. The match was extremely even with both players winning 92 points.
It is fair to say another reason why Rybakina delivered the three set upset was her mentality. She had a more consistent head space and was less rattled than when Sabalenka made an error.
Rybakina needs to be praised for her resiliency. She could have given up after losing the first three games of the third set. Instead, Rybakina won five straight games and never looked back.
This was the seventh time in 15 meetings that Rybakina beat Sabalenka. Her previous six wins came in the finals of Indian Wells in 2023 (7-6, 6-4), the quarterfinals of the 2023 China Open (7-5, 6-2), the final of the 2024 Brisbane International (6-0, 6-3), the round robin of the 2024 WTA Finals (6-4, 3-6, 6-1), the quarterfinals of Cincinnati in 2025 (6-1, 6-4), and the final of the 2025 WTA Finals (6-3, 7-6).
Rybakina’s major title at the 2026 Australian Open is drastically different when she won Wimbledon in 2022. Four years ago in England, Rybakina’s grand slam win was not reflective in the WTA rankings. That is because Wimbledon organizers banned Russian and Belarussian athletes from competing. The decision was not agreed upon by the WTA, and they decided not to award any points to participants.
