The Australian Open 2026 champion has been determined: what is known
31 January 15:09
Kazakh tennis player Elena Rybakina is the champion of the 2026 Australian Open. In the final, the representative of Kazakhstan defeated the world’s number one player, Arina Sabalenka.
Sabalenka reached the final after defeating Ukrainian Elina Svitolina in two sets. Rybakina, on the other hand, defeated former world number one Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals and American Jessica Pegula in the semifinals, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
This was the 11th face-to-face match between the two tennis players, with Sabalenka leading 6:4. One of the matches was played at the Australian Open: in 2023, the “neutral” tennis player won in three sets. However, in the last match between these tennis players, Rybakina won in the final of the 2025 Final Tournament.
Rybakina started the 2026 Australian Open final with a victory in the first set: she made a break at the very start of the game and then maintained her advantage — 6:4. The second set ended with the same score, but this time Sabalenka won: with the score at 5:4 in her favor, she took the game on the Kazakhstani’s serve.
In the third set, Sabalenka made an early break and took a 3:0 lead. Despite this, Rybakina managed to make a comeback: she won the next five games and then brought the match to victory.
Australian Open 2026. Final, women
Aryna Sabalenka (1) — Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan, 5) 1 :2 (4:6, 6:4, 4:6)
This is Rybakina’s first Australian Open victory in her career. Prior to this, she lost the Australian Open final in 2023.
Overall, this is Rybakina’s second Grand Slam title in her career. The Kazakhstani won her first Grand Slam at Wimbledon in 2022.
