A calm yet dominant Elena Rybakina stamped her authority in Melbourne, winning her first Australian Open title and second Grand Slam by defeating Aryna Sabalenka in the final. The moment belonged to the Kazakh, and the result left Sabalenka visibly disappointed. The Belarusian offered a sarcastic message to her team in the aftermath of the final.
Aryna Sabalenka Sends Sarcastic Message to Her Team After Sad Australian Open Loss
Rybakina gathered momentum in the latter part of the 2025 season, culminating in a title run at the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh. She carried that form into 2026, showing early consistency despite a quarterfinal exit in Brisbane. In Melbourne, however, the Kazakh remained composed and produced another deep run.
Rybakina powered past Kaja Juvan, Varvara Gracheva, Tereza Valentová, Elise Mertens, Iga Świątek, and Jessica Pegula in the semifinals to secure her place in Saturday’s title clash against Sabalenka. Remarkably, the Kazakh did not drop a set en route to the Australian Open final, underlining the sheer authority of her campaign.
Sabalenka was equally determined to win the title that had narrowly eluded her last year. The Belarusian stormed into the final without dropping a set, brushing aside Zhuoxuan Bai, Anastasia Potapova, Victoria Mboko, Iva Jovic, and 12th seed Elina Svitolina with ruthless efficiency.
Both players came out firing in a rematch of the 2023 Australian Open final, which Rybakina had narrowly lost. The Kazakh showed no signs of nerves, edging the opening set 6–4. Sabalenka responded with trademark power to take the second by the same scoreline and force a decider. In the end, it was Rybakina who held her nerve, clinching the final set 6–4 to seal her second Grand Slam title and her first in nearly four years.
Meanwhile, the World No. 1 appeared visibly disappointed, hiding her face in her towel at the court side and seemingly shedding tears. Despite the somber mood, Sabalenka lightened the atmosphere while addressing her team during her speech.
“Of course, thanks to my team for always being there, enjoying me losing finals (laughs). But also sometimes we win them, so let’s hope for the best. Let’s hope that next year is definitely going to be ours right?” she said.Â
The cameras then turned to Sabalenka’s team: her performance and fitness coach, Jason Stacy; head coach Anton Dubrov; and her boyfriend, Georgios Frangulis, all smiling at her playful remark.
The triumph was a landmark moment for the young Kazakh, not only adding a second Grand Slam to her resume but also propelling her to No. 3 in the WTA rankings. She leapfrogs Coco Gauff, who exited the tournament in the quarterfinals after falling to Elina Svitolina.
Rybakina also pocketed a record-breaking $2.7 million winner’s cheque, the largest in Australian Open history and a $600,000 increase from last year.
