Elena Rybakina remained confident she would win a second Grand Slam title after holding her nerve to beat world No. 1 and two-time champion Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to win the Australian Open.
Rybakina, the fifth seed, arrived here as an in-form player following her victory at the WTA Finals last November. It is her second major title after her victory at Wimbledon in 2022.
“I’ve always believed that I can get back to the level I was at,” she says. “We all have ups and downs. Like everyone else, I thought I might never be in the final again or even get a trophy, but it’s all about the work.
“We did a lot of work with the team and they were also very helpful. In the moments when I might not have been so positive, they helped. When you get big wins against top players after a few wins, you start to believe more and get more self-confidence.”
Last year, Rybakina’s coach, Stefano Vukov, was suspended from the tour at the Australian Open due to alleged abuse towards her. A year later, he received a trophy on the field in recognition of his work with her. His suspension was lifted on appeal in August. Rybakina said she didn’t consider his trophy a big moment.
“I didn’t think about anything special, because we won many titles together, and even last year in Ningbo, WTA Finals, and now this trophy, I felt proud and grateful to my team for the work again,” she said. “We have had a good preparation. We have had some ups and downs during the preseason, even at the beginning of this year, during the first tournament. I am just super happy. It is a victory for the whole team and all the people who support me. I just hope that I can continue this moment throughout the season and keep improving myself.”
Sabalenka did not hide her frustration after another heavy defeat in a major final, but she handled it with more composure than after her loss to Coco Gauff in the French Open final. She is now 4-4 in the grand final.
“I was really angry with myself because I was getting opportunities again. I was playing great up to a point, and then I couldn’t resist the aggression she had,” Sabalenka said.
“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’re going to talk to the team. Now they’re trying to avoid me and escape because they see that it’s not really healthy to be around me right now.”
Sabalenka processed the defeat with a lot of humor. When asked when she would debrief with her team, she jokingly asked her batting partner, Andrei Vasilevsky, when the meeting would take place. When he then suggested she do that, she said, laughing, “When? Today? Oh, fuck you, no.”
“Maybe in a week. Or maybe in a few days. When I feel like, ‘Okay, I can move on from this.'”
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