The Elena Rybakina 'bad sign' that should worry Aryna Sabalenka & Iga Swiatek

Former world No 5 Jimmy Arias has identified the “biggest edge” Elena Rybakina has over her rivals after the Kazakh’s triumph at the 2026 Australian Open.

Rybakina defeated world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the Australian Open championship match to secure her second Grand Slam title after her 2022 Wimbledon victory. She was a runner-up to Sabalenka at the 2023 Australian Open.

The 26-year-old climbed two places to her career-best ranking position of world No 3 when the WTA Rankings updated this week, and she is just 378 points behind world No 2 Iga Swiatek.

The 12-time WTA Tour titlist is 3,380 points adrift of world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka, but she could challenge the Belarusian this year given she has far few points to defend — particularly at the remaining three majors.

Speaking on Tennis Channel, Arias broke down the advantage that Rybakina’s serve gives her.

“[The serve] is the biggest thing, the biggest edge that she has, because one of the things in the women’s game that is attacked is second serves. They are relentless; if you miss first serves, your second serve is gonna be crushed,” said the five-time ATP Tour title winner.

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“Her second serve is also better than most, and her first serve gets her all kinds of free points, so she’s gonna hold serve at a higher clip.

“She’s already starting every match with a little bit of an edge, and I think she’s starting to believe it now, and she’s starting to have that confidence and understand how good she is.”

Steve Johnson, a former world No 21, warned that Rybakina’s level is a “bad sign” for other players at the top of women’s tennis.

“Yeah, this is the best I think I’ve seen her play, and even that’s dating back to when she won Wimbledon a few years ago,” said the four-time ATP titlist.

“This has just been continued success for her. Week in, week out, she’s going out there beating the best players in the world, and it doesn’t faze her.

“And she looks like she’s getting more and more comfortable on that stage, which is a bad sign for the women at the top of the game, because she is here to stay, and I think there’s going to be a couple more big trophies in her future this season.”

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