D not this time. For a moment it looked as if history could repeat itself again. Because Aryna Sabalenka, reigning number 1 in women’s tennis, and Elena Rybakina, challenger, have already faced each other at the same place in the final of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year: that was in January 2023. Rybakina won the first set 6:4, Sabalenka countered in the second with 6:3 and finally won the game in the third set with 6:4. Even the referee was the same back then.
Also this Saturday, January 31, 2026, Rybakina, with a mixture of pressure and finesse, took the first set with exactly the same result: 6:4. Only to finally let up a bit in the second set – while her counterpart found her way back to her old strength, to her typical mixture of force and will. Small difference to 2023: Sabalenka took the set 6:4, so she allowed an insignificant game more than back then.
And the third movement also seemed to keep the promise of repetition. Sabalenka was leading 3-0 and seemed superior to Rybakina. Then Rybakina’s coach called out to her that she should play with more energy. More energy! And suddenly the game changed.
Rybakina, blessed with a dead straight backhand, picked it up again, got the rebreak, broke again, didn’t weaken on her own serve either, but ended the game with a half and a full ace to make it 6:4. Final score: 6:4, 4:6, 6:4; the curse was broken, the Kazakh won her second Grand Slam at Wimbledon 2022.
Two post-Soviet women downunder
Sabalenka seemed defeated: she was in the final here for the fourth time in a row and lost it for the second time in a row. Last year the surprising triumphant was Madison Keys, this year it was Elena Rybakina in a purely post-Soviet final.
Eastern Europe has traditionally been strong in women’s tennis, not just since the fall of the Warsaw Pact. Sabalenka was born in Minsk in 1998 and has remained loyal to her homeland until now; She mostly let small hostilities from Ukrainian players roll off her back. Rybakina was born in Moscow in 1999, so she is a year younger. She was discovered in Germany and has been competing for the Kazakh association for some time now, and the management team couldn’t resist celebrating with her at the Melbourne stadium.
Iga Swiatek from Poland also fell by the wayside during the tournament. She has to see that alongside Sabalenka she now has another big competitor in the field. Germans played no role this time.