Elena Rybakina never stopped believing she would collect a second grand slam title after holding her nerve to defeat Aryna Sabalenka, the world No 1 and two-time champion, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 and win the Australian Open.
Rybakina, the fifth seed, arrived here as the in-form player after her triumph at the WTA Finals last November. It is her second major title after her win at Wimbledon in 2022.
“I always believed that I can come back to the level I was,” she said. “We all have ups and downs. Like everyone, I thought maybe I will never be again in the final or even get a trophy, but it’s all about the work.
“We’ve been putting a lot of work in with the team and they were also very supportive. In the moments when I was maybe not that positive, they would be helping out on the side. When you getting after some wins, big wins against top players, then you start to believe more, you get more confident.”
Last year, Rybakina’s coach, Stefano Vukov, was suspended from the tour during the Australian Open due to alleged verbally abusive behaviour towards her. One year on, he received a trophy on-court as recognition of his work with her. His suspension was lifted on appeal in August. Rybakina said she did not consider his trophy a significant moment.
“I didn’t think anything in particular, because we won many titles together, 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,” she said. “We did good preparation. We had some ups and downs during the pre-season, even beginning of this year, first tournament. I’m just super glad. It’s a win for all the team, all the people who support me. I just hope I can carry this moment throughout the whole season and keep on improving.”
Sabalenka did not hide her frustration after another tough loss in a major final, but she handled it with greater composure than after her loss to Coco Gauff at the French Open final. She is now 4-4 in major finals.
“I was really upset with myself because, once again, I had opportunities. I played great until a certain point, and then I couldn’t resist that aggression that she had,” said Sabalenka.
“But I played great tennis here. Even in this final I feel like I played great. I was fighting. I did my best and today she was a better player.
“We’ll speak with the team. Now they try to avoid and escape me because they see that it’s not really healthy to be around me right now.”
Sabalenka digested the defeat with plenty of humour. Asked when she would debrief with her team, she jokingly asked her hitting partner, Andrei Vasilevski, when the meeting would occur. When he suggested doing so afterwards, she said, laughing: “When? Today? Oh, fuck you, no.
“Maybe in a week. Or maybe in few days. Whenever I feel like: ‘OK, I can move on from this one.’”
