Elena Rybakina topples world No.1 Aryna Sablenka to win her first Melbourne Park crown on Rod Laver Arena

“I was close to it last time, but Aryna played really well in that match,” Rybakina said.

“He tried to get his shots in. He was serving really well and I think he even took a little risk because the second serve went almost the same way. [fast as her] First.

“Today I knew that if I got a chance to lead, I would have to try some risky shots and just go for it, definitely not wait for any mistakes and not even go for long rallies.”

“It’s amazing to hold this trophy this time.”

The slightly built but powerful right-hander is in the hottest form in women’s tennis and has won the most matches on the WTA tour since Wimbledon.

He sincerely thanked his team immediately after the hard-fought three-set win.

“We’ve been through a lot [lately]I’m really happy that we achieved this result. “And thank you all,” he said.

“Hopefully we can continue strong this year.”

Saturday night’s final was a titanic showdown with huge momentum swings. The fact that it consisted of three sets and the decision was made after 2 hours and 18 minutes made the competition worthy of this status.

Not only did Rybakina cap off an unforgettable two weeks by defeating three top 10 opponents at the open end of the Open (Wimbledon champion and world No. 2 Iga Swiatek, American Jessica Pegula and Sabalenka), she has also been in terrific form since her WTA Finals victory in Riyadh last November, beating Sabalenka in straight sets.

Opponents have come and gone at Melbourne Park and even the 7-5, 6-1 defeat to Swiatek in the quarter-finals did not create any hype or real argument that he is the player to beat this January.

The 2022 Wimbledon champion has won 20 of her last 21 matches at WTA level. Rybakina’s only blemish came in the Brisbane International quarter-final when she crashed out in three sets against the dangerous Czech player Karolina Muchova.

Rybakina’s victory is a stunning challenge to the status quo at the top of women’s tennis, given she moves level with world No.3 Coco Gauff with two major victories. After winning the WTA Finals last November, Rybakina is poised to go even further.

It was a well-deserved title. Her giant-killing run means she became the first player since Naomi Osaka in 2019 to win the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup, beating three of the top 10 players (and in her case, the top two players in the world).

At 0-2 in the first set after Rybakina consolidated a very early break of serve with a brutal service game, it was clear that Sabalenka was feeling the pressure of the reality of reaching her fourth consecutive Australian Open final and the arrival of her Saturday night opportunity 12 months after her failure against American Madison Keys.

Sabalenka arrived in Melbourne with high expectations for the second year in a row, significantly topping the rankings, with the Belarusian falling twice at the final hurdle and on the biggest stage.

He wasn’t sure if he would regret the last opportunity he missed.

“Maybe I should have tried to be more aggressive with my serve [in the final set]I knew I was taking a break and putting pressure on him, but he played incredible,” Sabalenka said.

“Some winners did. I made a few simple mistakes too.

“Of course I have regrets. You know, when you go up 3-0, a few seconds later it felt like it was 3-4 and I took a break, so it was very fast.”

“[It was] Great tennis from him. Maybe it’s not that smart for me.

“Today I’m a loser, maybe tomorrow I’m a winner, maybe I’m a loser again. I hope not. Let’s see.”

Although almost four years have passed between major victories, Rybakina said that this championship, which was achieved on hard ground rather than grass, came with “different emotions”.

“Wimbledon was my first experience getting this far in the tournament and I won straight away,” he said.

“I remember not sleeping well [ahead of the] semi-finals, even quarter-finals… Yes, I can say that it was really stressful, Wimbledon [was].

“[But] “I could sleep comfortably here and that’s a good thing.”