Australian Open: Elena Rybakina fought ‘fire with fire’, says former British No 1
Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka won exactly the same number of points in the Australian Open final, but the former was better during the important ones, according to Tim Henman.
Three years after losing the hard-court Grand Slam final against Sabalenka in three sets, Rybakina turned the tables as she defeated the world No 1 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to win her second major following her 2022 success at Wimbledon.
Top seed and four-time Slam winner Sabalenka is known for overpowering her opponents with her aggression, but her Kazakh opponent is also no mug when it comes to raw power and she used it to perfection as former world No 4 Henman explained.
It was a tight contest with both players finishing on 92 points over the three sets and Sabalenka hit more winners – 35 to 28 – while Rybakina had the advantage in the unforced errors stake (25 to 26, but it was Rybakina who came out on top.
Speaking on TNT Sports and Eurosport, Grand Slam semi-finalist Henman said: “On Rybakina’s amazing performance, so many of her great qualities were on display. Her ball striking from the back of the court, she was absolutely fantastic.
“Sabalenka showed what a great champion she is by digging in and getting that second set. You felt like she had the game by the scruff of her neck but Rybakina showed her resilience by her amazing serving and shotmaking from the back of the court.
“I think when Sabalenka plays that aggressive style of play, she takes time away from her opponents. But it looked like Rybakina had time and was able to fight fire with fire.
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“Sabalenka was always going to fight back but it’s really fitting we had such a high-quality event to finish the women’s event.
“With this matchup, Rybakina was able to use her own aggressive skills, her wingspan to stay in the rallies and when she got her chance, she took it… Credit where credit is due, she deserved it.
“It’s so tight, it’s fine margins, all the points are worth the same but you have to win the big points. It’s the same number of points by each player but Rybakina won the important ones at the end of the day.”
Sabalenka still leads the head-to-head as she is 8-7 ahead, but Rybakina has now won their two most recent matches and the are big ones as before the Australian Open final, she also won the 2025 WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia last November.
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