BY JAMES BECK
Aryna Sabalenka seemed to have everything set for another Australian Open title.
She was undefeated in 2026. She hadn’t lost a single sentence.
She had already won two Australian Open championship trophies from her last three trips to Melbourne.
Surprisingly, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff had already suffered a defeat at this year’s Australian Open and had already suffered losses at places 2 and 3. There seemed to be no one left in the tournament who could handle Sabalenka’s big game.
RYBAKINA BECAME CHAMPION BY NO FACTOR
But there was still Elena Rybakina. Out of the spotlight, of course.
Then came Saturday evening in Melbourne.
Rybakina was certainly not expected to play a major role on championship night, even though the Russian-born 26-year-old had won a Wimbledon title in 2022. That in itself was a surprise.
But she had taken care of Swiatek and the ever-dangerous Jessica Pegula in Melbourne.
This time things started badly for Sabalenka and ended the same way. She lost the first two games of the match but bounced back to win the second set and the first three games of the deciding third set.
But that was the end of Sabalenka’s fun.
SABALENKA’S SKILLS seemed lost
Rybakina took the lead with her sweeping groundstrokes and long-reaching serves.
Sabalenka was simply lost. Her power turned into missed shots and uncontrolled groundstrokes and serves. She finished this victory with an ace.
It all led to a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win for Rybakina.
This time Rybakina seems capable of becoming a superstar. She has all the punches and moves well.
And she has power on her serves and groundstrokes and has a unique distribution of both. She sees the vacancies
She doesn’t seem to know any ups and downs.
Age is a bit of a mystery. When she won Wimbledon she should have been on her way to greatness.
Maybe this time everything will work out for Rybakina.
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PrimeNewsDesk was the 2003 USTA National Media Award winner for print media. A 1995 MBA graduate of The Citadel, he can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com.