Elena Rybkina Her nearly three-year wait for a second Grand Slam title ended as she beat Aryna Sabalenka Australian Open In the end, her victory produced lasting confidence in her abilities.

Rybkina won her first major at Wimbledon in 2022 and then reached the Australian Open final in 2023, where she lost to Sabalenka.

However, Rybakina went into this year’s Australian Open having only advanced past the quarterfinals in one of her 11 previous Grand Slams, a run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2024.

But Ryabkina did not drop a set in the tournament until Sabalenka forced a third in Saturday’s final, with the Kazakh showing resilience from a 3-0 deficit in the decider to claim a 3-0 victory. 6-4 4-6 6-4 victory.

“Well, it’s an incredible achievement,” Rybkina said of her win. “Super happy and proud. It was a really tough fight. I didn’t expect to turn it around. Got some chances.

“Arina is a very tough opponent, but I am very happy that I have the trophy this time.

“I knew that today, if I had a chance to lead, I would need to try some risky shots and just go for it. Not wait for a mistake or go on long rallies.

“It’s amazing to hold this trophy this time.”

On ending her drought, she added: “Of course, we all have our ups and downs. I think everyone thought maybe I’d never go to a final again or win a trophy, but it’s all about work.

“I think we’ve been working a lot with the team, and they’ve been very supportive as well. In those moments when I might not have been as positive, they’ll help out on the sidelines.

“When you get some wins, big wins against top players, you start to believe more, you get more confidence. That’s kind of what it was like.”

Sablenka fell short again

After winning three of her first four Grand Slam finals, Sabalenka has now lost three of her last four following her second straight loss at this stage at the Australian Open. The Belarusian lost to Madison Keys in the 2025 final and was also beaten in the French Open showpiece by Coco Goff before winning the US Open.

“I was really upset with myself, I would say,” Sabalenka said. “Because, once again, I had opportunities. I played great up to a certain point, and then I couldn’t resist the aggression that she had on the court today.

“I was really upset with myself, but I think overall I played great tennis here in Australia. Even in this final, I think I played great. I was fighting. I played my best, and she was the better player today.

“So I don’t know. We’ll talk to the team. Now they try to avoid me and escape because they see that it’s not really healthy to be around me right now.

“I don’t know if I have any regrets. Maybe I should have tried to be more aggressive on my serve, knowing I had a break and putting pressure on it, but she played unbelievable.

“She hit some winners. I made some unforced errors. Of course, I regret it. You know, when you’re up 3-0 (in the third set) and then it seemed like in a few seconds it was 3-4, and I was down a break. So it was very quick.

“Great tennis from him. Maybe not so smart for me, but like I say, today I’m a loser, maybe tomorrow I’m a winner, maybe a loser again. Hopefully or not. Let’s see.”