MELBOURNE, Australia — Elena Rybakina finally won her second Grand Slam title, getting there with a victory over top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the Australian Open women’s singles final Saturday, and it was something of a testament to quiet achievers.
After some tumult at the start of 2025, including the suspension of her coach, Rybakina finished off last year with a title at the WTA Finals in November. And now she has started the new year with a major championship.
Her low-key celebration was symbolic of her understated run through the tournament at Melbourne Park: a small fist pump, a quick embrace with Sabalenka, a handshake with the chair umpire, a smile, a few hand claps on the strings of her racket, and then a wave to acknowledge the crowd.
It happened quickly after Rybakina closed with an ace to cap a third-set comeback and a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win over a regular rival who beat her in the 2023 Australian Open final.
“The heart rate was definitely beating too fast. Even maybe (if my) face didn’t show, but inside it was a lot of emotions,” the 26-year-old Rybakina — who was born in Moscow but represents Kazakhstan — said of her calm and clinical finish.
Seeded fifth, Rybakina knew she had to capitalize quickly this time after she admitted getting tight while needing almost a half-hour from her first match point to her match-winning point in a semifinal victory over No. 6 Jessica Pegula two days earlier.
Three years ago, Rybakina won the first set of the Australian Open final but lost it in three. This time, after breaking in the first game and taking the first set, she rallied after losing the second set and going down 3-0 in the third.
She won five straight games to regain control.
“It gives me a kind of relief,” said Rybakina, whose major breakthrough came four years ago at Wimbledon on the grass of the All England Club. “Also a lot of confidence for sure for the rest of the season.”
Rybakina entered that Australian final three years ago as the only major winner in the contest.
While Sabalenka went on to win another three majors in singles, repeating in Australia in 2024 and winning back-to-back U.S. Open titles in 2024-25, Rybakina’s results dipped. She didn’t reach another major final until making it back over the past two weeks in Melbourne.
Her win over Sabalenka at the season-ending WTA Finals last fall has changed her career trajectory. Rybakina has the most match wins on the WTA Tour since Wimbledon last July, and she is now on a roll of 20 wins in her past 21 matches.
Rybakina is 10-0 in her past 10 matches against top-10 players, and she’ll soon return to No. 3 in the women’s singles rankings.
“Last year I didn’t start so well,” she said. “I qualified for the (WTA) Finals late. I just hope I can carry this momentum. Do a good job with the team and continue this way.”
For Sabalenka, it’s back-to-back losses in the final in Australia after going down in an upset last year to American player Madison Keys. The 27-year-old from Belarus has been one of the final four players in women’s singles at five straight majors but has just one title to show for it from that stretch; she also lost the clay-court French Open final last year to Coco Gauff of the U.S., then was stopped in the Wimbledon semifinals by Amanda Anisimova of the U.S.
“Of course, I have regrets. When you lead 3-love and then it felt like in few seconds it was 3-4, and I was down with a break — it was very fast,” Sabalenka said of Saturday’s match against Rybakina. “Great tennis from her. Maybe not so smart for me.
“But as I say, today I’m a loser, maybe tomorrow I’m a winner. Hopefully I’ll be more of a winner this season than a loser. Hoping right now and praying.”
Sabalenka owns six Grand Slam titles in all — each of them won on hard courts — having also triumphed in women’s doubles at the 2021 Australian Open and the 2019 U.S. Open.
Rybakina went on the attack from the start Saturday. Her serve was strong, with six aces and — apart from the two breaks at the end of the second set and the start of the third — she fended off six of the break-point chances she faced.
While Sabalenka’s emotions intensified via her grunts, roars and effusive “Let’s go!” shouts of self-encouragement, Rybakina maintained a determined quietness throughout as she let her tennis do the talking.
“It’s hard to find words now,” Rybakina said in her on-court speech. “Of course I want to congrats Aryna on her amazing results for a couple of years. I just hope we’re going to play many more finals together.
“It was a battle, honestly.”
Kazakhstan’s flag was unfurled on the court at Rod Laver Arena after Rybakina had paraded the trophy around and posed for photos with her team.
She paid tribute to her coach, Stefano Vukov, who spent time under suspension last year by the WTA Tour. Vukov received a silver plate from the tournament organizers for being the champion’s coach.
“Of course I would like to thank my team,” she said. “Without you, it wouldn’t have been possible. Really. We had a lot of things going on (last year). Thank you to all of you, and hopefully we can keep on going strong this year.
“It’s a win for all the team, all the people who support me. I just hope that I can carry this moment throughout the whole season and keep on improving.”
Rybakina said she’d been working Vukov since 2019, and she finds it helpful to hear the constant stream of technical and tactical advice he conveys from his seat beside the court. The more, the better, she said, because eventually she listens.
“We won many titles together,” Rybakina said. “And even last year in Ningbo, WTA Finals, and now this trophy I felt just, again, proud and thankful to my team for the work.”
Doubles wraps up
Elise Mertens marked her return to the No. 1 ranking in women’s doubles by teaming with China’s Zhang Shuai to win the Australian Open title in that bracket Saturday.
Back together after four years apart as a team, the 30-year-old Belgian player and Zhang trailed 3-0 and 4-1 in the first set but rallied to beat Kazakhstan’s Anna Danilina and Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic, 7-6 (4), 6-4. Mertens and Zhang led the final set 5-0 before withstanding a comeback attempt when Danilina and Krunic won four straight games.
American player Christian Harrison and British teammate Neal Skupski won the men’s doubles trophy later in the day.
Harrison served an ace on match point for a 7-6 (4), 6-4 victory over the Australian pair of Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans. Kubler went into the match with a 14-3 doubles record at his home major.
Harrison and Skupski, who both competed at last year’s ATP Finals with different partners, joined as a team for the first time earlier this month in a tuneup tournament in Adelaide, where they reached the semifinals.
The mixed doubles final was played Friday, when Australian duo Olivia Gadecki and John Peers became the first team to win consecutive titles since 1989. They beat the French pair of Kristina Mladenovic and Manuel Guinard, 4-6, 6-3, 10-8.
Mertens who won the Wimbledon women’s doubles title last year with Veronika Kudermetova, is currently ranked No. 6 but will return to the top spot this coming week. It will mark the Belgian player’s 40th cumulative week as No. 1 in doubles — and was guaranteed regardless of the outcome Saturday at Melbourne Park.
The win marked Mertens’ sixth Grand Slam doubles title — including 2021 and 2024 in Australia — while Zhang now has three, including the 2019 Australian Open and the 2021 U.S. Open.
This was their first Grand Slam trophy won as a team, with the duo having lost the 2022 Wimbledon final in their most recent appearance together before this year.
“This is like cherry on the cake,” Mertens said. “We paired up as a team very last minute … this was our first tournament back together. In the second round, we saved three match points, so that kind of took us to another level. An unbelievable two weeks.”
That narrow second-round win was over rising teenagers Iva Jovic and Vicky Mboko, who teamed up in doubles as they also advanced in singles. Mertens reached the fourth round in that bracket before being beaten by eventual champ Rybakina.
Zhang said she and Mertens adapt well.
“We know how to play finals, we know how to win finals,” Zhang said. “We are both very calm. If something doesn’t work … we always adjust.”
Harrison said his men’s trophy was an added plus.
“For me, it’s just simple,” Harrison said. “The trophies, the tournaments are just a nice bonus. I love playing. Honestly, I just love stepping on the court and just having a good atmosphere. That’s honestly what makes it just simple for me.”
Skupski said that despite the pro-Australian crowd at Rod Laver Arena, he and Harrison handled the pressure well.
“We knuckled down and had to bring our best level,” Skupski said. “This will definitely improve us, give us experience, and (help us) know what to do next time. Especially in front of a crowd that, like today, was incredible.”