Rybakina got out of the blocks first as she took the opening set in just 35 minutes.

Sabalenka, who hadn't lost a single set in the run-up to the final, responded in style and levelled the match to force a decider. In a tightly contested third set, which lasted just under an hour, the Belarusian held her nerve and closed out the match to seal a historic victory. As well as winning her maiden singles grand slam title, Sabalenka also bagged £1.7m in prize money. The 24-year-old had already claimed two major honours in doubles, winning the 2019 US Open and 2021 Australian Open alongside Elise Mertens. The Belarusian made three grand slam semi-finals as a singles player ahead of this year's Australian Open triumph, though none of them came in Melbourne. In fact, the player's best run at the Australian tournament was a fourth-round appearance back in 2021 and 2022. Rybakina, on the other hand, entered the final as the Wimbledon champion. Nevertheless, she had to settle for the runners-up cheque of £932,000 following her first grand slam final heartbreak.

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