ELENA RYBAKINA REACHES 2026 AUSTRALIAN OPEN FINAL; FACES ARYNA SABALENKA FOR TITLE
Elena Rybakina defeated Jessica Pegula to reach the 2026 Australian Open final, setting up a high-stakes rematch with Aryna Sabalenka.
Elena Rybakina knows exactly what’s waiting for her: another showdown with Aryna Sabalenka, world number one, and the same opponent who beat her in last year’s Australian Open final. This time, Rybakina’s set on payback.
The Kazakh, seeded fifth, fought hard to book her spot in the final. She took down American sixth seed Jessica Pegula, 6-3, 7-6 (9/7), after 1 hour and 40 minutes of relentless rallies. That win sets up a Saturday clash with Sabalenka, the player who crushed Rybakina’s dreams in Melbourne last year by clawing back from a set down to take the trophy.
“It was a great battle, and in the end, she just played a little better. She deserved that win,” Rybakina said, thinking back on last year’s final. “Now, I want to enjoy the final. Hopefully, I’ll serve better than today—that should help me. I’m just excited to play.”
Neither Rybakina nor Sabalenka has dropped a set at this tournament, though Pegula came close to changing that. Rybakina controlled the first set, but things got tense in the second. Pegula saved three match points on her own serve and even broke Rybakina as she served for the match.
“That was a real battle. The second set was epic. I’m so glad I managed to win it,” Rybakina said. “I’m proud of how I stuck with it, even when things got tight. I fought for every point. There’s a lot to feel good about. Right now, I just need some rest.”
Born in Moscow and now based in Dubai, Rybakina knocked out second seed Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals. She’s chasing her first Grand Slam since winning Wimbledon in 2022. Lately, she’s been on fire—she beat Sabalenka to win the WTA Finals in Riyadh in November, and she’s won 19 of her last 20 matches.
From the start, Rybakina set the tone. She held serve to love, broke Pegula when the American netted a backhand, and jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Pegula started to find her groove, saving break points and holding on at 2-4, but Rybakina was already in control. She closed out the set in just 32 minutes.
Rybakina has made a habit of finishing matches strong—she’s won her last 22 matches after taking the first set. She grabbed an early lead in the second set, but Pegula, clearly frustrated, managed to break back. Still, Rybakina’s power from the baseline proved too much, and she broke Pegula again right away.
Pegula dug in, saving three match points at 3-5 and pulling off a break as a nervous Rybakina served for the match. The crowd sensed a comeback, and Pegula broke again to force a tiebreak, but Rybakina stayed composed and sealed her spot in a third Grand Slam final.
DOHA DISASTER: IGA SWIATEK AND ELENA RYBAKINA BOTH CRASH OUT IN QUARTER-FINAL SHOCKERS
Massive upsets in Doha! Maria Sakkari stuns Iga Swiatek while teen Victoria Mboko takes down Rybakina. Read the full analysis.
World number two Iga Swiatek and Australian Open champ Elena Rybakina both made early exits from the Qatar Open on February 12, falling in the quarter-finals to Maria Sakkari and Victoria Mboko.
Swiatek, the top seed and defending champ, started strong; she broke Sakkari twice in the first set and looked on track for another easy win. But Sakkari, who’s had a tough stretch lately, dug in. She fought back, grabbing a tense 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 win. Afterward, Sakkari admitted, “It’s been a while since I had a big win like today.” She used to be ranked as high as No. 3 in the world back in 2022 but has slipped all the way down to 52. “When you drop in the rankings and you’re not playing good tennis, you start doubting yourself. You think you’re never going to beat those players again,” she said. “So it’s a huge process you have to go through in your head that you can do it.”
Sakkari, 30, had beaten Swiatek three times earlier in their careers, but not since 2021. Swiatek had won their last four matches, including a straight-sets victory in Qatar last year. “Last year, in the second round here against her, I was not confident; I was not believing in myself, and this year it’s different. I feel a lot better,” Sakkari said. She’ll now play either Karolina Muchova or Anna Kalinskaya in the semi-finals. “I’ve missed that feeling of going deep into tournaments.”
Swiatek, who dominated this event in 2022, 2023, and 2024, looked ready to do it again. But after dropping the first set, Sakkari found something extra. She broke early in the second set, and even though Swiatek kept responding, Sakkari steadied herself, broke again, and took the set. For the first time in their seven matches, they went to a deciding set. It was back-and-forth—Swiatek saved a match point, but Sakkari served out the win, finally sealing it on her third chance. The match lasted just under two and a half hours.
Right after that, Victoria Mboko kept her hot streak going. She beat Rybakina 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 in a match that was only six minutes shorter than the Sakkari-Swiatek battle. Mboko had already beaten Rybakina once this year, in the Montreal semi-finals, and she came out swinging again, breaking Rybakina’s serve three times in the first set. She dropped her own serve twice but still took the set. Rybakina bounced back to grab the second, but the 19-year-old Canadian had the edge in the third and closed it out 6-4.
Mboko, who lost to world number one Aryna Sabalenka in Melbourne a few weeks ago, now faces Jelena Ostapenko in the Doha semis. Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champ and last year’s runner-up, made it through by beating Elisabetta Cocciaretto 7-5, 6-4.
ELITE CLUB: SEBASTIAN KORDA HITS 150 ATP WINS TO JOIN CARLOS ALCARAZ AND JANNIK SINNER
Sebastian Korda secures his 150th ATP win in Dallas. Discover the six stars born after 2000 who are chasing Sinner and Alcaraz.
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are still running the show on the ATP Tour, but they’re not the only young guns making waves. Four other players born after 2000 have now reached 150 career wins, joining the exclusive club right behind the top two.
Sinner leads the pack with a massive 326 ATP wins, leaving Alcaraz in second with 287. These two haven’t just piled up the numbers, either—they’ve basically owned the Grand Slams lately, splitting the last nine majors between them.
Even so, this generation isn’t just a two-man race. Sebastian Korda made headlines at the Dallas Open by picking up his 150th ATP win against Michael Zheng. That puts him in the same bracket as Alcaraz and Sinner. Felix Auger-Aliassime sits just behind the top two with 270 wins, then comes Lorenzo Musetti at 184 and Holger Rune with 175.
Let’s be honest right now, Alcaraz and Sinner are still the players everyone’s chasing. But with both of them sitting out this week, the door’s wide open for someone else to step up. Korda, Taylor Fritz, and Ben Shelton are all battling it out at a Dallas Open packed with American talent. Meanwhile, Alex de Minaur and Auger-Aliassime are among the big names at the Rotterdam Open.
Take a look at the last nine Grand Slam winners, and it’s pretty much a Sinner-Alcaraz highlight reel:
Australian Open: 2024 Sinner, 2025 Sinner, 2026 Alcaraz
French Open: 2024 Alcaraz, 2025 Alcaraz
Wimbledon: 2024 Alcaraz, 2025 Sinner
US Open: 2024 Sinner, 2025 Alcaraz
Of course, there’s always hope that players like Rune and Jack Draper can mix things up, but Rune’s currently injured, and Draper’s just getting back after a long layoff. Then you have rising talents like Learner Tien and Joao Fonseca, both recent Next Gen ATP Finals champs, just like Alcaraz and Sinner were earlier in their careers, who might be the next to challenge the big two. The race is on, but for now, Alcaraz and Sinner are still setting the pace.