01/31/26 05:17:00
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01/31 05:15 CST Elena Rybakina wins Australian Open by beating No. 1 Aryna
Sabalenka for her 2nd Grand Slam title
Elena Rybakina wins Australian Open by beating No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka for her
2nd Grand Slam title
By JOHN PYE
AP Sports Writer
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) --- Elena Rybakina won the Australian Open title with
a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory over top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday that
avenged her loss in the championship decider here in 2023.
Four years ago she won the first set but lost the final 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 and then closed out with an ace on her first championship point.
It was a second major title for fifth-seeded Rybakina, who won Wimbledon in
2022 and entered that Australian final four years ago as the only major winner
in the contest.
While Sabalenka went on to win another three majors, including back-to-back
triumphs in Australia and the 2024 and '25 victories at the U.S. Open,
Rybakina's results dipped and she didn't reach another major final until this
tournament.
A win over Sabalenka at the season-ending WTA Finals last November has changed
her career trajectory.
Rybakina went on the attack from the start and 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 breakpoint chances she faced.
While Sabalenka's grunts and roars intensified and her effusive "let's go"
self-encouragement increased in regularity as the match wore on, Rybakina
maintained a quiet, almost serene, composure.
In the end, she let her serve and her returns do the talking.
The pair hugged at the net. Rybakina clapped her left hand on the strings of
her racket and held her arm up to the crowd triumphantly.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
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