Women’s Australian Open Final 2026 Prediction: Sabalenka set for another titanic tussle

In what is a repeat of the 2023 Australian Open final, Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina get set to renew their rivalry at Melbourne Park, with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup the reward for the victor.

Below are my Women's Australian Open Final 2026 Predictions.

Sabalenka got the better of Rybakina in three sets on that occasion and, having defended her crown in 2024 before a runner-up effort to Madison Keys last year, she is featuring in her fourth straight Australian Open final.

For 2022 Wimbledon heroine Rybakina, this is her third appearance in a Grand Slam final, and she did get the better of world number one Sabalenka to win the lucrative WTA Finals in Riyadh in November.

Both players have been in stellar touch, winning all six of their assignments in straight sets, and have stood head and shoulders above the opposition down under.

Aryna Sabalenka vs Elena Rybakina Odds

Sabalenka, bidding to win the Australian Open for a third time in four years, is 4/7 to regain her crown.

Rybakina, champion at Wimbledon in 2022 and appearing in her third Grand Slam final, is 11/8 to cause the upset.

When these two met in the 2023 Australian Open final, Sabalenka came from a set down to prevail, and she is 11/4 to win 2-1, with a straight-sets success for the world number one available at 7/5.

Rybakina is 3/1 to win 2-0, while she can be backed at 3/1 to record a three-set victory.

Over 22.5 games @ 5/6

When Sabalenka and Rybakina locked horns in the 2023 Australian Open final, it was the now world number one who stood tallest, coming from behind to record a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 success.

However, Sabalenka will know all too well what Rybakina is capable of when she is serving at her fluent best, having lost four of their six hard-court rivalries, which includes a 6-3, 7-6 defeat in the final of the WTA Finals in November.

Eight of the past 14 meetings between these two headline acts have gone to a deciding set, and there is every possibility that this follows a similar narrative.

Sabalenka edges their personal series 8-6, but that is a tight margin for someone who has been so dominant, showing that Rybakina has what is required to cause her concern.

World number five Rybakina is one of the most powerful and potent servers on the WTA Tour, and she has faced only nine break-point opportunities across her last three matches.

Top seed Sabalenka, meanwhile, was broken only once in overcoming Iva Jovic and Elina Svitolina in the last two rounds, and they may cancel each other out.

Elena Rybakina to win 2-1 @ 3/1

Rybakina will know she has what is required to stifle Sabalenka, having won four of their last six hard-court rivalries, and she will be looking to emulate the achievements of Keys, who defeated the world number one in three sets of last season’s final.

Sabalenka has lost three of her last six Grand Slam finals 2-1, and Rybakina, having bulldozed her way past world number two Iga Swiatek and American sixth seed Jessica Pegula in Melbourne, could spring a surprise.

Matches involving these two tend to be tight affairs - eight of their 14 rivalries have gone the distance - but Rybakina has the ability to keep service games short and sweet, and that is when Sabalenka can force things, racking up the unforced errors

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