By Shrivathsa Sridhar
MELBOURNE, Jan 30 (Reuters) – Aryna Sabalenka will bid for a third Australian Open trophy in four years on Saturday when the Belarusian collides with fellow power-hitter Elena Rybakina in a heavyweight rematch of their title showdown three years ago.
The dynamics have shifted since Sabalenka’s breakthrough win in 2023, the 27-year-old now the clear favourite following three more Grand Slam triumphs and Rybakina yet to win another major after her 2022 Wimbledon success.
The pair know each other well having met 14 times on tour, with Sabalenka holding a narrow edge in a rivalry marked by bruising baseline battles and momentum swings, but the top seed said history would count for little on Rod Laver Arena.
“We both are different players,” Sabalenka said.
“We went through different things and we’re much stronger mental and physically. We’re playing better tennis now. So I’ll approach this as completely different match.
“We have long history after that final. I’ll approach this match as the very first one and I will do my very best.”
Victory would give Sabalenka her fifth Grand Slam title, drawing her level with Martina Hingis and Maria Sharapova and cementing her place among the most successful players of the modern era.
BRAGGING RIGHTS
Russian-born Kazakh Rybakina holds the recent bragging rights, having defeated Sabalenka in the WTA Finals title match at the end of 2025, and the fifth seed said she was banking on that experience to get her over the line at Melbourne Park.
“Of course, many years have passed and a lot of matches have been played,” Rybakina said.
“Hopefully all the experience I got from the last match and the last final that I played here, I can bring it to Saturday’s match and do my best.
“Since we’re both very aggressive players, the serve will be important. I’ll fight till the end, and hopefully this time it’s going to go my way.”
Given Sabalenka’s background and Rybakina’s early ties to Moscow, the final will have political undertones due to Russia’s war in Ukraine and Belarus’s role as a staging ground for the invasion.
Melbourne has been especially kind to Sabalenka.
She has won 26 of her last 27 matches at the year’s first Grand Slam with her only defeat coming against Madison Keys in the 2025 final, which denied her a Melbourne Park “three-peat”.
Sabalenka’s game is tailor-made for the fast, blue hardcourts which have rewarded her heavy first serve and flat groundstrokes, and she has not dropped a set en route to the final this year.
Rybakina has been just as efficient, marking the first time that both Australian Open women’s finalists have reached the decider without surrendering a set since Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters in 2004.
While Sabalenka breezed past Elina Svitolina 6-2 6-3 in the semi-finals, Rybakina had to battle against Jessica Pegula to earn a 6-3 7-6(7) win and keep her record intact.
The 2022 All England Club champion has been in blistering form since the latter stages of last year, piecing together 13 wins from her last 14 matches and sustaining a level of consistency that has made her a threat.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN ORDER OF PLAY ON SATURDAY
Order of play on the 14th day of the Australian Open (prefix number denotes seeding; all finals):
ROD LAVER ARENA
Day session (1200 AEDT/0100 GMT)
Women’s doubles final
7-Anna Danilina (Kazakhstan)/ Aleksandra Krunic (Serbia) v 4-Zhang Shuai (China)/ Elise Mertens (Belgium)
Men’s doubles final
Jason Kubler (Australia)/ Marc Polmans (Australia) v 6-Christian Harrison (U.S.)/ Neal Skupski (Britain)
Night session (1930 AEDT/0830 GMT)
Women’s singles final
1-Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) v 5-Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan)
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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