By Roger Childs
Elena Rybakina proved she’s the only woman on tour who can compete with two-time champion Aryna Sabalenka’s strength, coming back to claim her first Australian Open title. –Fox Sport, 31 January 2026
The match (men’s final)began with the old fox swiftly bagging the opening set before the younger opponent raced back into the lead and never let up. –Al Jazeera, 1 February 2026
Well-matched women’s finalists
Whereas Sabalenka is a demonstrative, noisy performer on court, Rybakena from Kazakhstan is a quiet, modest player. She let’s her racquet do the talking. The Belarussian was the number one seed and was expected to win. However Rybakena showed her determination to take the title from the start. She broke Sabalenka’s service in the first game and took the set 6-4. However the top seed hit her best form in set two winning 6-4. Then she went out to a 3-0 lead in the third set.
The massive crowd in the Rod Laver Arena could see from the outset that this was going to be a close final with plenty of quality tennis. Both players served well, played powerful ground strokes, often with superb placements. There were also a number of quick-fire rallies close to the net and great winners off second serves.
In the second set at four all, the Kazakhstani on serve made the mistake of trying a delicate drop shot which didn’t work.
Sabalenka seized the initiative and won five games in a row. Up 3-0 in the deciding set it seemed that the number one seed would cruise home and win her fifth major. But Rybakina roared back and won six of the last seven games to take the set and the grand slam title. She finished the match off with an ace. The Belarussian had no answers and conceded afterwards that she had been outplayed.
It was the second major victory for the Kazakhstani, who won Wimbledon back in 2022. Unsurprisingly she enjoyed the Melbourne experience and observed in her victory speech:
It is a really happy slam and I always enjoy coming here and playing in front of you guys.
The legend and the apprentice
The Men’s Final matched one of the greatest players of all time, 38 year old Novak Djokovic, and the current number one Carlos Alcaraz sixteen years his junior. Each had very specific goals.
- The Serb was keen to win a record 25th grand slam.
- The Spaniard wanted to win the one major that had so far eluded him and to become the youngest player ever to complete the feat of winning all four grand slams.
The Serb had huge support from the packed Rod Laver Arena and the hundreds of Djokovic fans watching on a big screen outside the stadium.
Djokovic started with a hiss and a roar, and took the first set 6-2 in less than half an hour. It was a virtually flawless display characterized by fast, accurate serving; brilliant placements; powerful ground strokes; and well disguised drop shots. He frequently ran his opponent from corner to corner and broke his serve twice.
Alcaraz responded with a 6-2 win in the second set showing the raw power which is a feature of his game at its best, plus superb placements, speedy serving, amazing retrievals and plenty of drop shots – an aspect of the game he has popularized in recent years. He then took the third set 6-3 and just needed to win the fourth to take the title.
A dramatic final set
The Serbian legend was not giving up without a fight, however. His first service game took more than 12 minutes and Alcaraz had five break point opportunities. But Djokovic brushed them all off showing his famous determination and often had the Spaniard racing from side to side on the baseline. The spectators marveled at the skill of both players retrieving beautifully-angled placements which against other players would have been clear winners.
Games went with service through to 5-5. In the ninth game the Serb had had a break point but his crucial return went too deep. At 6-5 Alcaraz just needed to break the Djokovic serve to take the title. He won the first point after a rapid fire 24 shots then the second and the third when his opponent hit the ball out. 0-40 to the Spaniard but Djokovic came to the net in the fourth point and clawed one back – 15-40. However when the Serb again hit the ball wide it was all over and Alcaraz had won the major he needed. As tradition requires, the young champion wrote on the camera lens — JOB FINISHED 4/4 COMPLETE with a smiley face.
Both players were given a standing ovation as the crowd realized that they had seen something special and that they may have watched the ten-time champion playing his last match at Melbourne Park.
Tributes to great players
A very interested spectator in the front row of the arena at one end was the Spanish champion Rafael Nadal who in his time had played and beaten both finalists. Alcaraz and Djokovic both thanked him for being present and said it was an honour to play in front of him.
The finalists congratulated each other, thanked the ball kids and officials, and expressed appreciation to the spectators for their support over the last two weeks.
It is now a long wait unit the second 2026 grand slam at Roland Garros in Paris starting in mid-May. In the meantime players will be contesting a number of Masters tournaments in the United States, South America and Europe.