Power battle as Aryna Sabalenka clashes with Elena Rybakina for Australian Open title

MELBOURNE – Fire meets fire when hard-hitting Aryna Sabalenka clashes with big-serving Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open women’s final on Jan 31.

The showdown pits two players who are on rampaging form and yet to drop a set in Melbourne in the past fortnight.

The duo know each other very well, having met 14 times previously, and it is a rematch of the 2023 title decider at Rod Laver Arena.

Sabalenka prevailed on that occasion, fighting back from a set down to win her first Grand Slam crown.

The Belarusian world No. 1 won it again in 2024, but was denied a hat-trick in 2025 when she was stunned in the final by the American Madison Keys.

The meeting with the Kazakh Rybakina will be her fourth Melbourne final in a row, and she is expecting an almighty tussle.

“Her shots are heavy, deep, flat balls. It’s not easy to work with, but we have a great history,” said the 27-year-old, who defeated Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina in the semi-finals.

“She’s an incredible player,” she added of the Moscow-born Rybakina, whose only Major title is Wimbledon in 2022.

“We had a lot of great battles, a lot of finals we played. I’m looking forward to battling this power.”

In their 14 meetings, Sabalenka has won eight, a narrow edge in a rivalry marked by bruising baseline battles and momentum swings, but the top seed also said history would count for little on Rod Laver Arena.

“We both are different players,” she said. “We went through different things and we’re much stronger mentally and physically.

“We’re playing better tennis now. So I’ll approach this as completely different match.”

Sabalenka goes into the final in scintillating form, having won all of her 11 matches in 2026 without dropping a set.

She lifted the Brisbane International title before coming to Melbourne and is also the reigning US Open champion, underlining her prowess on hard courts.

After being well beaten on Jan 29, Svitolina said that Sabalenka was “on fire”.

“She feels very comfortable here on these courts,” she added. “Of course, she won here a couple of times, so I think she has this confidence playing here.”

Sabalenka will be favourite, but recent history actually favours the 26-year-old Rybakina.

While Sabalenka leads their head-to-head record 8-6, Rybakina won the last time they met, in the decider at the WTA Finals in November in Riyadh, in straight sets.

Rybakina is also on a terrific run of form of her own.

The only defeat she has suffered on court since last October was a three-set loss to Karolina Muchova in the Brisbane quarter-finals.

She has been quietly impressive in Melbourne, where her victims include world No. 2 Iga Swiatek and sixth-ranked Jessica Pegula.

Pegula gave an insight into what it is like facing the Kazakh, who she labelled “cool as a cucumber”.

“She’s always just tough. You know, she’s so chill. She doesn’t really give you anything,” said the American, after going down 6-3, 7-6 (9-7) in the semi-finals.

“You’re not really sure if she’s upset or if she’s excited or what it is. I think in today’s game that goes a long way.”

And then there is Rybakina’s serve, the biggest in women’s tennis. She has sent down 41 aces at the tournament, comfortably more than anyone else in the women’s draw.

Reflecting on their 2023 Australian final, Rybakina said both she and Sabalenka had improved and changed as players since.

But one thing remains the same – their power.

“Since we are both very aggressive players, serve is important,” said Rybakina.

She added: “Hopefully the serve is going to help me on Saturday, but even if it’s not, I’m going to still try to find my way.

“(I will) fight till the end, and hopefully this time it’s going to go my way.” AFP, REUTERS