Australian Open 2023 Women's Final: TV Schedule, Start Time and Live Stream

Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka have been two of the best women's tennis players at Grand Slam tournaments over the last six months.

The two players extended their strong play into the 2023 Australian Open, where they will meet in the women's singles final on Saturday.

Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, and Sabalenka, a four-time Grand Slam semifinalist, have combined to drop one set over 12 combined matches in Melbourne.

Rybakina ran through a gauntlet on the top side of the bracket to reach the final. She defeated two 2022 semifinalists in Melbourne and a pair of previous Grand Slam winners in the last four rounds.

Sabalenka had an easier route to the final on paper, as she eliminated two unseeded players in the last two rounds, but she was tested earlier in the tournament by a pair of seeded players.

The 23-year-old Rybakina is aiming to become the third woman since 2017 to win two major titles in a three-event span, while Sabalenka is searching for her first-ever Grand Slam crown in her maiden final.

Women's Singles Final Info

Date: Saturday, January 28

Start Time: 3:30 a.m. ET

TV: ESPN

Live Stream: ESPN.com and Watch ESPN

Preview

The form of Rybakina and Sabalenka should make for an exciting two or three sets inside Rod Laver Arena.

Rybakina burst on to the Grand Slam scene at Wimbledon last year, where she beat Ons Jabeur in the final.

The 23-year-old took her game to another level to kick off the 2023 major season, and she used some of the experience gained at Wimbledon to get through some tough matches in Melbourne.

Rybakina was drawn in the same portion of the bracket as No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek and 2022 Australian Open runner-up Danielle Collins. She beat Collins in three sets in the third round and then downed Swiatek in straight sets in the fourth round.

The reigning Wimbledon champion then went on to beat Jelena Ostapenko and Victoria Azarenka to add to her collection of wins over Grand Slam champions.

Rybakina did not lose a set against Swiatek, Ostapenko and Azarenka. She was only forced into one set tiebreak against those three players.

The now two-time Grand Slam finalist is not playing like a typical No. 22 seed. She would have been ranked much higher if the sport's governing bodies decided to award ranking points at Wimbledon. Rybakina will appear in the top 10 for the first time after Australia, per WTA Insider.

A win would move Rybakina into Swiatek and Naomi Osaka's company as women to win two majors in a three-event span since 2017. Osaka ended the 2018 and 2020 major calendars with U.S. Open wins and then won the following Australian Opens in 2019 and 2021. Swiatek won both the French and U.S. Opens in 2022.

Rybakina must earn her first-ever win over Sabalenka to earn her second major crown.

Sabalenka owns a 3-0 head-to-head record over her final foe, with the last one coming in the round of 16 at Wimbledon in 2021.

Sabalenka has been forced into three sets by Rybakina in each of their three meetings, but she has battled to win all of those matches.

Those results should give Sabalenka some extra confidence going into her first Grand Slam final—the No. 5 seed has reached four semifinals over the last two years (at the last two U.S. Opens and at Wimbledon two years ago) and finally got over the hump on Thursday.

The 24-year-old has been the most consistent woman at hard court majors since 2021. She is the only woman with three semifinal appearances across events in Melbourne and New York during that span. Swiatek is the only other player with multiple semifinal berths in that run of five tournaments.

Saturday's final may feel like Sabalenka's to lose because she has not gotten anything wrong in Melbourne after six consecutive straight-set wins.

The argument against Sabalenka is that her last two matches came against unseeded players and she has not had as tough of a path as Rybakina to reach the championship match.

The counter to that is Sabalenka looked as dominant as a No. 5 seed should against unseeded foes by winning three of those four sets by three games or more.

Sabalenka's edge is her hard-court major form, while Rybakina owns an advantage because of her major-winning experience.

We should expect an incredibly high level of tennis from both players, and they could deliver the best women's major final when we look back on 2023.