Kazakhstani tennis player Yelena Rybakina is the champion of the Australian Open 2026. In the final, the representative of Kazakhstan defeated the world's first racket, “neutral” Arina Sabalenka.
Sabalenka reached the final after defeating Ukraine's Elina Svitolina in straight sets. Rybakina, on the other hand, defeated world number one Iga Swiontek in the quarterfinals and American Jessica Pegula in the semifinals.
For the tennis players, this was the 11th head-to-head match, the score was in favor of Sabalenka 6:4. One of the matches was played at the Australian Open: in 2023, the “neutral” tennis player won in three sets. At the same time, in the last match between these tennis players, Rybakina won – in the final of the Final Tournament-2025.
With a victory in the first set, Rybakina started the final of the Australian Open-2026: she made a break at the very start of the game, after which she held the advantage – 6:4. The second game ended with an identical score, but this time Sabalenka won: with a score of 5:4 in her favor, she “dry” took the game on the Kazakh's serve.
In the third set, Sabalenka made an early break and took a 3-0 lead. Despite this, Rybakina was able to make a comeback: win the next five games, and then bring the matter to victory.
Australian Open-2026. Women's Final
Arina Sabalenka (1) — Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan, 5) 1:2 (4:6, 6:4, 4:6)
This is Rybakina's first career victory at the Australian Open. She previously lost the final of the Australian Open in 2023.
Overall, this is the second Grand Slam title in Rybakina's career. The representative of Kazakhstan won her first Slam in 2022 at Wimbledon.