Her first response after winning the prestigious Australian Open was, 'say sorry for my English as I am still shaking and am super nervous'. This shows how humble the 24-year-old actually is, having secured her first-ever Grand Slam title. The Belarusian was far from her best in the first set on Rod Laver Arena but made amends for her errant serving with a heavy-hitting showing to down Rybakina 4-6 6-3 6-4 on Saturday.
Victory over the 23-year-old marked Sabalenka's 11th straight win to start the 2023 season, dropping to her knees to celebrate after falling just short in previously reaching three major semi-finals.
World number five Sabalenka heaped praise on Rybakina, who had looked on course to back up her 2022 Wimbledon triumph, as she reflected on a maiden grand slam success.
"Secondly, it's such an inspiration to receive this trophy from you [Billie Jean King]. Thank you so much for everything you've done for our sport. I couldn't be more thankful. I want to congratulate Elena for an incredible two weeks. You are such a great player. I hope we have many more battles and hopefully [they will be] in the finals of grand slams.
"Congratulations to your team. You guys are amazing and have done such a good job," she said.
"It was an amazing atmosphere. I hope next year I come back even stronger and I will show you all [the Australian fans] even better tennis."
Addressing her own team, Sabalenka added, "We've been through a lot of downs last year. We worked so hard and you guys deserve this trophy. This is more about you than about me. Thank you so much for everything you do for me. I love you guys."
Rybakina, the 22nd seed in Melbourne, defeated major champions Iga Swiatek, Jelena Ostapenko and Victoria Azarenka en route to the final amid a scintillating run in Australia.
But she slipped to a fourth straight defeat in head-to-head clashes with Sabalenka.
"I would like to congratulate Aryna on the title and a great start to the season. I know how hard you and your team have worked for that," Rybakina said. "Good luck for the rest of the season and hopefully we are going to have many more battles. I want to say a big thank you to my team for the great job we have done; to my family, coach and president of the Kazakhstan Federation, thank you so much for the support.
"I had goosebumps with this atmosphere and I am looking forward to coming back next year. Next year I hope to go one better."
