The hottest player in women's tennis parlayed her rich vein of form into a second major triumph with a steely three-set comeback victory over world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday night.
The Russian-born 26-year-old roared back from a mid-match lull in which she lost five consecutive games to conquer Sabalenka - once again - 6-4 4-6 6-4 in a high-octane title decider on Rod Laver Arena.
"I'm a little lost for words," Rybakina said after overturning a 3-0 third-set deficit with some ferocious and fearless hitting from the back.
After taking out world No.2 Iga Swiatek and the sixth-ranked Jessica Pegula on her charge to the final, Rybakina is the first woman since Naomi Osaka in 2019 to claim the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup with three consecutive wins over top-10 rivals.
Set to rise to No.3 in the world on Monday, Rybakina has won more matches than any other player on tour since last July, including 20 of her past 21, to serve notice to her rivals that her best years are still to come.
Tellingly, the Kazakh also downed four-time major winner Sabalenka and Swiatek en route to the season-ending championship in Saudi Arabia in November and is unbeaten in her past 10 matches against top-10 opponents.
"I didn't even know these statistics, to be honest," Rybakina said.
"I always believed that I can come back to the level I was. Of course, we all have ups and downs.
"I'm happy that now I'm getting back to this level and hopefully I can be stable again throughout the whole season and keep on showing great tennis, good results."
Swiatek had arrived in Melbourne hoping to complete a career grand slam, but now Rybakina is halfway there herself after adding the Open title to her 2022 Wimbledon crown.
The big-hitting baseliner and power server will try to nab the third leg at Roland Garros in June and also needs a US Open trophy for a full set.
"Well, of course yes," Rybakina said when asked if the French and US Open titles were her next priorities in 2026.
"But I will focus at all the grand slams, all the big events and, yeah, it is amazing.
"Of course you want to win as much as possible. You're getting more hungry and more motivated."
The fifth seed's finals reversal atoned for a three-set loss to Sabalenka in the 2023 Melbourne Park decider.
After winning only seven points from 4-4 in the second set to 0-3 in the third, Rybakina could have been haunted by blowing a one-set lead against her Belarusian rival three years ago.
Instead she was clutch as Sabalenka unravelled, dropping four games in a row before Rybakina closed out the championship with a booming ace.
"She did a better job in handling that pressure moment, that's for sure," a dejected Sabalenka said after falling a set short of joining all-time greats Martina Navratilova and Martina Hingis with a third Australian Open crown.
"I don't want to think about tennis, but the ambitions are still the same.
"Keep fighting, keep working hard, keep putting myself out there and try my best if I'll have another chance in the final.
"Just go out there and do my best. Then just try the same, you know? Try to see how many grand slams I can get."
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