Elena Rybakina defeated world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-4 4-6 6-4 to win her second Grand Slam title with a maiden success at the Australian Open.
Kazakh star Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, battled back from 3-0 down in the deciding set by winning five of the next six games to triumph.
The victory comes three years after Sabalenka defeated Rybakina in the 2023 final at Melbourne Park.
It will be another bitter pill to swallow for Sabalenka, who having won back-to-back titles in Melbourne in 2023 and 2024, has now lost close finals two years in a row after Madison Keys got the better of her 12 months ago.
Last year she lost five of her nine finals, including to Coco Gauff at the French Open and to Rybakina at the WTA Finals, although she did claim a fourth Grand Slam title at the US Open.
“I want to congratulate Aryna for amazing results for a couple of years. I know it’s tough. I hope we are in many more finals together,” said the 26-year-old Rybakina.
“The support (in the final) kept us going. Thank you to the Kazakhstan fans. I felt the support!”
How Rybakina won her second Grand Slam title…
In the first Grand Slam final since 2008 featuring players yet to drop a set, it was top seed Sabalenka who blinked first under the Rod Laver Arena roof as Rybakina came out all guns blazing to break in the opening game and wrestle control.
Even the Belarusian can be outgunned by Rybakina, with her own flat, driven ground strokes and powerful serve, which is arguably one of the biggest in the women’s game.
The Kazakh fifth seed’s huge ball-striking caused all sorts of problems for two-time winner Sabalenka, as she comfortably got to set point in the 10th game and finished it off to send alarm bells ringing in her opponent’s camp.
Having arrived with 46 hardcourt Grand Slam match wins from the last 48, four-times Grand Slam champion Sabalenka found her groove and started the second set more positively, but Rybakina saved three breakpoints to hold for 1-1.
A wayward forehand from Rybakina handed Sabalenka the chance to level at one set apiece, and the Belarusian gleefully took it to turn the final set into a shootout.
A factor in Rybakina’s dip over the past couple of years has been the allegations against her coach, Stefano Vukov, of abusive behaviour towards her.
The Croatian, who has always denied any wrongdoing, was given a year’s suspension by the WTA last season, but it was lifted on appeal in August, with Rybakina staunchly defending Vukov throughout.
There is no doubt Rybankina’s results have picked up since he returned, culminating last year in victory at the WTA Finals.
Yet it could have been a different story in Melbourne with Sabalenka surging to 3-0 up in the deciding set before the Kazakh erased the deficit and broke for 4-3 before securing victory to add to her Wimbledon triumph from four years ago.
‘What a final!’
Great Britain Billie Jean King Cup captain Anne Keothavong, speaking on TNT Sports:
“What a match, what a final. Quality tennis from both women. So deserved for Elena Rybakina.”
Henman: So many of Rybakina’s qualities were on display
Six-time Grand Slam semi-finalist Tim Henman speaking on TNT Sports:
“So many of Rybakina’s great qualities were on display. She set the tone from the first game. She was absolutely fantastic.
“Sabalenka showed what a great champion she is by responding and digging deep in the second set.
“You felt when Sabalenka had that break in the third, she had the match by the scruff of the neck but that’s where Rybakina showed her resilience and determination to dig in and turn things around.”
He added: “Rybakina, having won Wimbledon before, didn’t panic after she lost five games in a row.
“She waited for her opportunities and did well to break back in the deciding set.
“Six of the last seven games in the last set were quality tennis from Rybakina.”
Tale of the Tape: Rybakina vs Sabalenka
Britain’s Skupski wins men’s doubles title
Neal Skupski (right) and Christian Harrison captured the Australian Open men’s doubles title in their first Grand Slam event as a team
Neal Skupski continued Britain’s impressive recent record in men’s doubles by winning the Australian Open title alongside American Christian Harrison.
The newly-formed pair, playing in just their second tournament together, defeated Australian wildcard pair Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 on Rod Laver Arena.
“We obviously started playing together in Adelaide two weeks ago now,” Skupski said. “We didn’t know obviously how it would go. It seems to be going pretty well so far!”
It is the third time in the last five Grand Slam tournaments that there has been at least one British winner, with Henry Patten lifting this trophy last year alongside Finn Harri Heliovaara before the home duo of Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool triumphed at Wimbledon.
Skupski and his former partner Joe Salisbury, meanwhile, reached the final of both the French Open and US Open, coming up just short both times.
The latter revealed at the end of the season that he was taking a break from the sport because of anxiety, and mutual friends brought Skupski and Harrison together.
They could not have imagined how quickly Grand Slam success would arrive, and they were fully deserving winners of the title, with a Harrison ace clinching victory on their third match point.
It is Skupski’s second Grand Slam men’s doubles title after he won the Wimbledon crown in 2023 with Dutchman Wesley Koolhof, while he also has two mixed doubles titles at the All England Club, but this represents his first major success away from home soil.
The victory also brings another Grand Slam trophy into the Harrison household after his elder brother Ryan, also his coach, won the French Open doubles title in 2017.
Skupski (right) sealed his second Grand Slam men’s doubles title after he won Wimbledon in 2023
“My parents are back home, and I remember I was with them when I watched my brother win the French Open on TV and they were emotional wrecks. So I know they’re probably doing the same right now,” Harrison said.
“Thanks to my partner, without you it’s not possible. I was so excited to just get on the court with you. In some tight moments, I knew your experience was going to help pay off in the end and it did. It was fun to battle in this match together.”
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