Elena Rybakina steps back into the spotlight with the Australian Open title

Aryna Sabalenka seemed to have everything in place for another Australian Open title.

In 2026 she was undefeated. She had not lost a set yet.

She had already collected a pair of Australian Open championship trophies on her last three trips to Melbourne.

Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff had surprisingly already tasted defeat at this year’s Australian Open, seeing their Nos. 2 and 3 suffer losses. There seemed to be no one left in the tournament who could handle Sabalenka’s big match.

RYBAKINA GOED FROM NO FACTOR TO CHAMPION

But there was still Elena Rybakina. Out of the spotlight, of course.

Then came Saturday night in Melbourne.

Rybakina was certainly not expected to play a major role on championship night, even though the Russian-born 26-year-old had won a Wimbledon title in 2022. That in itself was a surprise.

But she had taken care of Swiatek and the always dangerous Jessica Pegula in Melbourne.

Things started badly for Sabalenka this time and ended the same way. She lost the first two games of the match, but recovered to take the second set and the first three games of the deciding third set.

But that was about the end of Sabalenka’s fun.

SABALENKA’S SKILLS ARE LOST

Rybakina took over with her long-reaching groundstrokes and long-reaching serves.

Sabalenka was simply lost. Her power turned into misses and uncontrolled groundstrokes and serves. She closed this victory with an ace.

That all turned into a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win for Rybakina.

Rybakina seems like he could become a superstar this time. She has all the shots and moves well.

And she has power on her serves and groundstrokes, and has a unique distribution of both. She sees the open spaces

It seems that she has no highs and lows.

Age is a bit of a puzzle. She should have been on her way to greatness when she won Wimbledon.

Maybe things will fall into place for Rybakina this time.

—

James Beck was the 2003 winner of the USTA National Media Award for Print Media. He graduated from The Citadel’s MBA in 1995 and can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com.