Elena Rybakina accomplished another milestone at Melbourne Park on Saturday, January 31, by defeating the World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in three sets to win her first Australian Open title. She overcame the two-time champion in a two-hour and 19-minute battle to lift a Grand Slam trophy for the second time in her career, after winning Wimbledon 2022.
There appeared to be a tense moment during the trophy presentation ceremony, though, when the arena seemingly booed Rybakina’s coach, Stefano Vukov, who came to collect his trophy.
Stefano Vukov Receives a Trophy After Elena Rybakina’s Australian Open Win
Rybakina defeated Sabalenka 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 on Saturday to become a two-time Grand Slam champion, with the entire Rod Laver Arena bowing to acknowledge the win. Both players entered the match without dropping a single set, but it was the Kazakh champion who controlled her nerves and prevailed in the final.
When both players arrived on court for the post-match trophy presentation ceremony, Vukov was called by the host to collect the winning coach’s trophy. The moment he received the memento, there were audible boos in the stands. Notably, right after getting the trophy from Jennifer Capriati, he stepped off the stage in a hurry to go back with the rest of Rybakina’s coaching team.
The negative reaction toward the coach can be traced back to his one-year ban last year, when the WTA investigated complaints about his alleged misconduct with Rybakina. However, the player declined such claims, defending her coach publicly. After a successful appeal, he was allowed to return to her coaching team right before the 2025 US Open.
Interestingly, the investigation came to light just before the 2025 Australian Open, when Rybakina announced that she wished to renew her collaboration with Vukov after their brief separation. The WTA derailed her plans by coming forward with details on the investigation, stating that Vukov had been stripped of his accreditation and won’t be permitted inside Melbourne Park.
Since his return, Rybakina has seen immense success, winning the Ningbo Open and the WTA Finals last year, and now becoming a two-time Grand Slam champion, taking down the World No. 1 consecutively in the championship matches. During the trophy presentation ceremony at the year-end championship, Rybakina refused to take pictures with the WTA CEO, Portia Archer, who was one of the people behind Vukov’s ban.
Even during the winner’s speech, Rybakina expressed gratitude towards her coaching team, saying, “I would like to say thank you to my team, without you, it won’t be possible really. We had a lot of things going on, and I’m really glad that we achieved this result. And thank you to all of you. And yeah, hopefully we can keep on going strong this year.”
The Nerve-Racking Final Between Rybakina and Sabalenka
Rybakina kicked off the match in dominant fashion, breaking Sabalenka early to take a 2-0 lead. She saved her serve for the rest of the set. The Kazakh champion struggled with her first serve, landing only 48% of those, but managed to win 79% of points on the remaining while winning 67% of her second serve points. Rybakina took the set 6-4 to gain a lead in the championship match, thanks to two aces and just one double fault.
However, in the second set, Sabalenka brought her A-game, landing 66% of her first serves and winning 95% of those points. She didn’t face a single break point in the match and converted one of the four she had in the tenth game to take the set 6-4.
In the third set, Sabalenka broke Rybakina to take a 3-0 lead; however, the Kazakh champion came back and broke the World No. 1 twice to take a 4-3 lead. She then successfully served for the match at 5-4 to become the Melbourne Champion. This was a rematch of the 2023 Championship match at the tournament, where Sabalenka came back after losing the first set to win her first Australian Open title.
