Elena Rybakina vs Aryna Sabalenka for the 2026 Australian Open Champion

JAKARTA - Elena Rybakina managed to beat world number one Aryna Sabalenka to win the 2026 Australian Open title, which is the second Grand Slam title in her career.

The Russian-born Kazakh tennis player needed a three-set fight 6-4, 4-6, and 6-4 to bury Sabalenka's dream of winning her third title at Melbourne Park on Saturday, January 31, 2026, afternoon WIB.

"It's hard to find the right words, but I want to congratulate Aryna. She has achieved incredible results over the past few years and I hope we will play in more finals together again," Rybakina said as quoted by BBC.

Rybakina, who is the fifth seed at this year's Australian Open, was actually 0-3 down in the final set, so Sabalenka was on top of the wind to clinch her fifth Grand Slam in her career.

However, Rybakina managed to win five games in a row to avenge her defeat from the two-time champion in the 2023 Australian Open final. At that time, the 26-year-old lost in three sets.

"I want to thank my team - without you, this would not have been possible. We faced many challenges and I'm happy we achieved this result. Hopefully we can continue to perform strongly this year," said Rybakina.

This is the third defeat for US Open champion Sabalenka in her last four Grand Slam finals after she suffered disappointing defeats in last year's Australian Open and French Open finals.

Rybakina has been impressive on her way to the Australian title this year. In addition to beating the top seed, she also defeated world number two Iga Swiatek and sixth seed Jessica Pegula on her way to the final.

He is now recorded as having won his last 10 matches against fellow tennis players from the top 10. In addition, he is also the first player to win the title by defeating three world top 10 players since Naomi Osaka in 2019.

Rybakina is the best performing player on the WTA Tour with the most wins compared to any other player since the end of Wimbledon last year (38) and has lost only once in her last 21 matches.