The Tamesis
On a balmy night in Melbourne, Aryna Sabalenka reached her fourth consecutive Australian Open final and already has two titles under her belt, conceding her deserved fifth Grand Slam title to 26-year-old Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
The victory marked a major return for world number five Rybakina, who has not won a major title since she beat then world number three Ons Jabr at Wimbledon in 2022. It was a thrilling defeat – a terrible match on a bad day – for Sabalenka, whose immense power saw her lead 3-0 in the third set before losing five straight games on Rybakina’s serve.
