Aus Open Day 14 - Rybakina’s glory but did Sabalenka blow it?

·1 hr 16 min·5 clips

Did Aryna Sabalenka throw away the Australian Open final after leading 3-0 in the third set?

Melbourne Park gets its final-night balance back. After the men's semifinals threatened to swallow the build-up, the panel gives Rybakina and Sabalenka the space their final earned. It was tense, competitive, and still alive at the end. Maybe not an all-timer, but very much the match they wanted: Rybakina starting cleanly, Sabalenka answering, and the momentum refusing to sit still for long. Rybakina finished it in the way only she really can. The ace at the end gives the panel an easy way into the bigger thought: she has won this title without serving as well as she probably can. Her first-serve percentage was around 55 in the final, and they say it has not been especially high in any of her last three matches against top players. Still, she beat the world number one. That makes the ceiling feel a little ominous. If the serve gets steadier, Rybakina stops looking merely dangerous and becomes a much harsher problem for the rest of the field. Goran's line about her being one of the very best players gets folded into that same question. Then the room gets awkward. Stefano Vukov's return around Rybakina's camp is not something the panel can treat as scenery, given the Australian Open accreditation ban, the WTA ban, the appeal, and the revoked ban. The trophy presentation makes it harder to ignore, because the event now puts coaches onstage as part of the moment. That leaves everyone sitting with the visibility of a coaching relationship that had just been under formal scrutiny. There is still the usual Tennis Podcast dryness. The ceremony, the stage being built and wiped, and Jennifer Capriati's entrance all become side roads that keep the serious point from turning stiff. By the end, everyone sounds fond, tired, and ready to close the fortnight. One more podcast is coming, Charlie Eccleshare's late move away from Rybakina gets needled, and the run ends with gratitude, teasing, and low-grade exhaustion.

As heard by us

Rybakina's title night gets a sharp, immediate read, with Sabalenka's late wobble and the champion's still-roomy serve as the big hooks.

Rybakina's Australian Open win gets a proper same-night airing here, still close enough to the noise at Melbourne Park to feel a little raw. The panel frames the 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 final as compelling rather than immortal, which feels about right: Rybakina started fast, Sabalenka…

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Rybakina wins the Australian Open final, and the panel's real question is whether Sabalenka handed it to her.

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