Women’s Australian Open 2026 Predictions: Sabalenka and Rybakina set for a re-run of 2023 final

Madison Keys will be out to defend her Women's Singles title at the 2026 Australian Open, which begins this Sunday, January 17. However, the American isn't among the favourites to lift this year's trophy.

Below are my Women's Australian Open 2026 Predictions, alongside the outright odds.

Winner - Elena Rybakina @ 13/2

World No. 1 and two-time Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka (2023, 2024) will be tough to beat in Melbourne, but World No. 5 Elena Rybakina has the tools to go all the way this month.

A former Australian Open finalist (2023), Rybakina ended last year on a positive note, winning the Ningbo Open and the WTA Finals in Riyadh, where she won all five matches, which included a 6-3, 7-6 (7-0) victory over Sabalenka in the final.

The 26-year-old only has one Grand Slam to her name (2022 Wimbledon), but as one of the most powerful servers on the WTA Tour - she recorded 516 aces in 2025, 143 more than the next best, Linda Noskova (373) - she should feel confident of adding more majors to her collection, starting this month at the Australian Open.

Australian Open Women's Singles Odds

Rybakina won't have it easy Down Under, with World No. 2 Iga Swiatek a potential opponent in the quarter-finals, and defending champions Keys, or World No. 4 Amanda Anisimova, also potentially lying in wait in the semi-finals, but she will at least avoid Sabalenka until the final in what would be a rematch of the final two in 2023.

The fifth seed has won two of her previous three meetings with Sabalenka, both in straight sets, so she would be able to carry that confidence into their contest, were they to meet in Melbourne.

Name The Finalists - Aryna Sabalenka - Elena Rybakina @ 10/1

If you're on board with my prediction that Rybakina will reach the final, and that her likely opponent in the final would be Sabalenka, you can back the two players in the Name The Finalists market at 10/1.

This, of course, would be a re-run of the 2023 final, which was won 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 by Sabalenka at Rod Laver Arena.

Four-time Grand Slam champion Sabalenka, who has won all four of her majors on hard courts, reached the final of two Grand Slams in 2025, winning her second US Open title and finishing runner-up to Coco Gauff at Roland-Garros.

The 27-year-old already has a title under her belt in Australia this month, having won all five matches in straight sets at the Brisbane International, and it would take a brave person to bet against her at least reaching the final in Melbourne.

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