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A career-best season for Aryna Sabalenka saw her reclaim the No. 1 ranking from Iga Swiatek and eventually end the season atop the summit for the first time in her career. She got the job done at the recently concluded WTA Finals, though it was a bittersweet experience for her as she failed to win the tournament.
Nevertheless, this was a fantastic season on Sabalenka's part, during which she weathered plenty of ups and downs. Her former boyfriend's death at the start of the season affected her, and an illness saw her lose prior to the semifinals of a Major for the first time in two years at the French Open.
The 26-year-old's woes continued as a shoulder injury forced her to skip Wimbledon as well. However, she returned to the tour with a vengeance and tasted considerable success in the last few months of the season. After another successful season, here's a look at what lies on the horizon for Sabalenka:
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Aryna Sabalenka will aim to build upon a career-best season in 2025
Aryna Sabalenka won four titles in a single season for the first time in her career and advanced to a record seven finals. She won two Majors, the Australian Open and the US Open, and two WTA 1000 titles in Cincinnati and Wuhan. She improved her previous record of three titles from six finals that she set last year.
After her service woes in 2022, Sabalenka hired a biomechanics expert to get back on track. The results were there for everyone to see in 2023, and her serve remained a huge part of her success this year. She won 78.5 percent of her service games this season, though she did win 80.8 percent last year.
While her service numbers dipped a little, Sabalenka did make up for it with her impressive return game. While she won 44.7 percent of return points last year, she upped that stat to 45.3 percent this year. The Belarusian will aim to streamline these aspects of her game for better cohesion next season.
Aryna Sabalenka's ground game was mostly impressive, but there were a few matches where her shotmaking simply fell apart. She made 47 errors during her loss to Coco Gauff in the semifinals of the WTA Finals. She will be keen to address those lapses and devise a game plan to beat fellow top players more often.
Sabalenka did take a step in the right direction this year and went 11-5 against top-10 players, including an eight-match winning streak. She will also aim to deal with the pressure that comes with having the top ranking. She has a 7-5 record as the World No. 1 and hasn't won any titles during her stay atop the rankings, though she has participated in only three tournaments as the top-ranked player thus far.
As Sabalenka enjoys a much-needed rest before resuming her training block, she will aim to beef up her game to attain more success next year. She has shined during the start of the season the last two years and will try to do the same yet again.
Aryna Sabalenka gunning to win her third consecutive title at the Australian Open
Aryna Sabalenka has made Australia her turf over the past couple of years and has a 22-1 record in the country since the start of 2023. She started that year with a title in Adelaide and followed it up with her maiden Major triumph at the Australian Open.
Sabalenka finished as the runner-up at the Brisbane International this year and then defended her Australian Open crown. She's vying to become the first player since Martina Hingis to win three titles on the trot in Melbourne, who swept three straight titles between 1997 and 1999.
The only player to bother Sabalenka in Australia has been Elena Rybakina. The latter beat her in the Brisbane final this year and pushed her to three sets in last year's Australian Open final. She has beaten everyone else in straight sets during this period.
Rybakina recently beat Sabalenka in the group stage of the WTA Finals. The latter leads their head-to-head 6-4 but has always needed three sets to beat the former. The Kazakh has also won four of their last six matches. If the Belarusian intends to continue her Australian domination, then she will need to find a way to take charge of this rivalry decisively once again.
