The Belarusian won her first grand slam in three sets, having lost the first to the Kazakh Wimbledon champion.  Upon receiving the Daphne Akhurst trophy for what is Sabalenka’s maiden Grand Slam title, the emotional Belarusian tennis star expressed her gratitude to her team as well as extended her congratulations to the tournament’s runner up, Elena Rybakina. 

She stated; “I am super nervous, I want to thank Miss King she has done so much, congratulations, Elena. Hopefully, we will have many more battles, hopefully in the final of grand slams. Thank you everyone, and thanks guys for an amazing atmosphere. It was an enjoyable tournament to play in. Thanks to my team, they are the craziest team on the tour. You guys deserve this trophy more than me. I hope next year I come back even stronger and I will show you even better tennis.” 

Wimbledon winner, Rybakina also had a fantastic tournament as she became the firs female player since Jennifer Capriati in 2001 to impressively beat three Grand Slam winners namely Iga Swiatek, Jelena Ostapenko and Victoria Azarenka at this year's Australian Open. 

As Billie-Jean King handed Elena Rybakina the runners-up trophy, she expressed her congratulations to Sabalenka stating that she knows how hard Aryna has worked and that she hopes to have many more battles against her. 

Both tennis stars showed exceptional sportsmanship as the Australian Open came to an end, both hopeful to meet again and come back stronger. 

The Men’s Singles final is scheduled to take place tomorrow, the 29th of January, at the Rod Laver Arena with Novak Djokovic up against Stefanos Tsitsipas. 

Kayla Barker/OFM Sport