Aryna Siarhiejeŭna Sabalenka[a] (born 5 May 1998) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. She is the current world No. 1 in singles and former world No. 1 in doubles. Sabalenka has won three major singles titles at the 2023 and 2024 Australian Opens and the 2024 US Open, and two major doubles titles, at the 2019 US Open and the 2021 Australian Open, both partnering with Elise Mertens. She has won 23 career titles, 17 in singles and 6 in doubles.
Sabalenka came to prominence in 2017 when, together with Aliaksandra Sasnovich, they led the Belarus Fed Cup team to a runner-up finish despite both of them being ranked outside the top 75 at the time. She finished 2018 and 2019 ranked No. 11 in the world in singles. Following two major singles semifinal appearances in 2021, Sabalenka peaked at the world No. 2 ranking but struggled to maintain that success in 2022 consistently. In 2023, she won her first major singles title at the Australian Open, reached the semifinals at all four major tournaments (also finishing runner-up at the US Open), and obtained the world No. 1 ranking, being named the ITF World Champion for the season. Sabalenka also began playing doubles regularly in 2019. With Mertens as her partner, she completed the Sunshine Double by winning the two Premier Mandatory tournaments in March, the Indian Wells Open and the Miami Open. After the US Open doubles title later in the year, she also qualified for the WTA Finals for the first time. With the 2021 Australian Open doubles title, she became the world No. 1 in the discipline. Sabalenka has a very aggressive style of play, often accumulating high numbers of winners and unforced errors. With her height, she also has a very powerful serve.
Early life and background
Sabalenka was born in Minsk, the capital of Belarus. Her father, Sergey (d. 2019), was an ice hockey player. Sabalenka started playing tennis by chance. She said, "One day, my dad was just driving me somewhere in the car, and he saw tennis courts on the way. So he took me to the courts. I liked it and enjoyed it, and that's how it was. That's how it started." She began training at the National Tennis Academy in Minsk when it opened in 2014.[3][4][5] In 2015, the Belarusian Tennis Federation persuaded Sabalenka and her team to focus on playing low-level professional events instead of junior tournaments, even though she was still eligible to compete at the junior level.[6]
Career
Juniors
Sabalenka had a late start on the ITF Junior Circuit, instead competing on the U14 and U16 Tennis Europe tours at a younger age.[7][8][9] She did not compete in the main draw of any ITF events until 2013 at the low-level Grade-4 Tallink Cup in Estonia at the age of 15. She never played in the junior Grand Slam tournaments or any other high-level Grade-A and Grade-1 events. Without the higher point levels from these bigger tournaments, she had a career-high ranking of just No. 225.[10][note 1] Sabalenka won her first ITF title in doubles at the lowest-level Grade-5 Alatan Tour Cup in Belarus in late 2013 with compatriot Vera Lapko as her partner.[11][note 1] In 2014, she excelled at Grade 4 events. She reached her first singles final at the Estonian Junior Open in June and won her first singles title at the MTV Total Junior Cup in Finland in October.[12][note 1] At the end of the season, Sabalenka defended her Alatan Tour Cup doubles title, this time with compatriot Nika Shytkouskaya,[11][note 1] and also won the singles title.[12][note 1] She only played in one tournament in 2015, the European Junior Championships. As a Grade B1 event, this was the highest-level junior tournament she played in. She lost in the second round to top seed Markéta Vondroušová.[7][10][note 1]
2012–2016: Professional & Fed Cup debut
Sabalenka began playing on the ITF Women's Circuit in 2012, even before she competed on the ITF Junior Circuit. Her first five tournaments were in her hometown of Minsk and spread out over two years, but she did not win a main draw match in any of them. She won her first professional match at the very end of 2014 in Istanbul.[13][note 1] The following season in October, she won her first two titles in back-to-back weeks in Antalya, both at the $10k level. Sabalenka also won a $25k title the last week of the year.[13][note 1] This title put her into the top 300 WTA rankings for the first time at the start of 2016.[14] That year, she made her Fed Cup debut in April, losing her only match.[15] She also won her two biggest titles to date at the $50k level. The first in Tianjin[16] put her into the top 200 in May and the second in Toyota[17] in November helped her finish the year ranked at No. 137 in the world.[13][note 1][14]
Despite some early season success in the Fed Cup, Sabalenka had a quiet start to the year. She played in her first WTA Tour main draw in February as a qualifier at the Dubai Open;[18] however, she did not win her first WTA Tour match until Wimbledon in July. In her Grand Slam debut, she again reached the main draw through qualifying and defeated Irina Khromacheva in the opening round.[19] Sabalenka followed up this achievement with another win at the Washington Open over No. 34 Lauren Davis, the 2016 runner-up and the highest-ranked player she had defeated at the time.[20]
After losing in qualifying at the US Open, Sabalenka reached her first ever WTA semifinal at the Tashkent Open, defeating third seed and world No. 53, Tatjana Maria, along the way.[21][22] A few weeks later, she entered the Tianjin Open as the 119th-ranked player in the world, but managed to reach her first WTA tournament final.[23] There, she faced her childhood idol Maria Sharapova, but ultimately lost in two tight sets. With this performance, she rose to No. 76 in the rankings, entering the top 100 for the first time.[24][14] After losing a tight Fed Cup final to the United States,[25] Sabalenka finished the season by winning the biggest title of her career at the time at the Mumbai Open, a WTA 125 event.[26] The title cemented her at No. 78 at the end of the year.[27]
After playing relatively few WTA events in 2017, Sabalenka used her higher ranking to play exclusively on the WTA Tour 2018.[28] She reached two quarterfinals to begin the year,[29][30] but lost her opening-round match at the Australian Open to top-ranked Australian and world No. 18 Ashleigh Barty.[31] She then won her first matches at a Premier tournament with a third-round appearance at the Indian Wells Open before the early-year hardcourt season came to a close, including a victory over No. 19, Svetlana Kuznetsova.[32][28]
Sabalenka began the clay-court season by reaching a second career final at the Ladies Open Lugano, where she finished runner-up to No. 20 Elise Mertens.[33] This success put her in the top 50 for the first time.[14] However, she did not win another match for the rest of the clay-court season; this included a first-round loss to No. 22 Kiki Bertens at the French Open.[34] Sabalenka had stronger results on grass, playing in tune-ups during each of the three weeks before Wimbledon. She made it to the quarterfinals at the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships and the final at the Premier level Eastbourne International. At the latter event, she won five consecutive three-set matches, including three over top 20 opponents and her first top-ten victory against defending champion and world No. 7 Karolína Plíšková.[35] Sabalenka lost the final to world No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki.[36] For the third consecutive Grand Slam event, she went out in the first round at Wimbledon.[37]
During the North American hardcourt summer season, Sabalenka rose through the rankings.[14] At the two Premier 5 tournaments, she reached the third round at the Canadian Open and the semifinals at the Cincinnati Open. In the former, she avenged her previous loss to world No. 2, Wozniacki, for the biggest win of her career, hitting 64 winners during the match.[38] In the latter, she recorded two more top-ten wins over No. 8 Plíšková and No. 5 Caroline Garcia before losing to world No. 1, Simona Halep.[39] Just a week later, Sabalenka won her first WTA Tour title at the Premier-level Connecticut Open with wins over world No. 9, Julia Görges, in the semifinal, and Carla Suárez Navarro in the final.[40] Playing a fourth consecutive week, she closed out this part of the season with her best result at a Grand Slam tournament to date, making it to the fourth round at the US Open. In particular, she upset world No. 5, Petra Kvitová, in the third round before losing to the eventual champion, Naomi Osaka. She was the only player to win a set against Osaka in the tournament.[41][42]
After the US Open, Sabalenka earned her first No. 1 seed at the Tournoi de Québec but lost her opening match.[34] Nonetheless, she followed this up by winning the Premier 5 level Wuhan Open, the biggest title of her career. During the event, she upset No. 6 Elina Svitolina in the second round and did not drop a set in her last four matches.[43][44] The following week, Sabalenka reached the quarterfinals of the China Open, a run that included a win over defending champion and No. 4, Caroline Garcia, for her eighth top-ten victory of the season.[45] This success in China helped her climb to No. 11 in the world.[14] At the end of the season, Sabalenka qualified for the WTA Elite Trophy, where she was grouped with Garcia and Ashleigh Barty. She defeated Barty to open the group but lost to Garcia in the group's final match.[46] Barty, having defeated Garcia with fewer games lost, advanced out of the group through the tiebreak criteria to end Sabalenka's season.[47] Nonetheless, she was named the WTA Newcomer of the Year for her excellent performance in her first full year on the WTA Tour.[48]
2019: Singles top 10, doubles No. 2
Singles: Elite Trophy, three titles
Although Sabalenka once again struggled at the Grand Slam tournaments, she ultimately finished the year with the same year-end ranking as in 2018 on the strength of three titles, all in China. She began the season by winning her third career WTA title at the Shenzhen Open, defeating Alison Riske in the final in a tight three-set match. Due to rain delays in the earlier rounds, she needed to play both the semifinal and the final on the last day of the tournament.[49] However, she could not build on this success in the rest of the first half of the year. Sabalenka lost to 17-year-old Amanda Anisimova in straight sets at both the Australian Open and the French Open in the third and second rounds, respectively.[50][51] She had been considered the third-leading favourite for the title at the Australian Open.[52] Nonetheless, she made her top-10 debut following the event.[14] Sabalenka fared worse at Wimbledon, losing her opening match to No. 139 Magdaléna Rybáriková.[53] In-between the Grand Slam tournaments, Sabalenka's best result was a semifinal loss to No. 8, Kiki Bertens, at the Premier-level St. Petersburg Trophy in February.[54] She also made the fourth round at the Indian Wells Open.[55] Her best result on clay was a semifinal at the Internationaux de Strasbourg in May.[56]
Sabalenka had a better second half of the season. In her first tournament following Wimbledon, she finished runner-up to Zheng Saisai at the Silicon Valley Classic, a Premier-level event.[57] She did not perform well at either Premier 5 tournament in August or the US Open, losing in the second round at the last Grand Slam tournament of the year.[58] Sabalenka returned to China following the US Open, and produced three strong results in four events. After a quarterfinal at the Zhengzhou Open, she defended her title at the Premier 5 Wuhan Open. During the event, she defeated No. 8 Kiki Bertens in the third round and No. 1 Ashleigh Barty in the semifinals, her first victory over a current world No. 1 player.[59] She won the final over Alison Riske.[60] At the end of the season, Sabalenka qualified for the WTA Elite Trophy for the second consecutive year. She swept her round-robin group of Maria Sakkari and her doubles partner Elise Mertens.[61] In the knockout rounds, Sabalenka defeated Karolína Muchová and Bertens for her fifth career title, and her third title of the year in China.[62]
Doubles: US Open title, Sunshine Double
Mertens and Sabalenka at the 2019 French Open
Sabalenka started the year ranked No. 73 in doubles.[14] She began partnering with Elise Mertens in January, when the pair lost to top seeds Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková in the third round of the Australian Open. They had their breakthrough in March at the two Premier Mandatory tournaments. In only their second tournament together, Sabalenka and Mertens won the Indian Wells Open. They defeated three of the top five seeds in the event, including second seeds Tímea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic in the first round and top seeds Krejčíková and Siniaková in the final.[63] The pair matched this success at their next event by winning the Miami Open to complete the Sunshine Double. They defeated three of the top six seeds, including third seeds Hsieh Su-wei and Barbora Strýcová in the second round. They won the final against sixth seeds Samantha Stosur and Zhang Shuai.[64] With these two titles, Sabalenka rose to No. 21 in the world.[14]
Sabalenka and Mertens continued to partner together throughout the year, entering eleven events before the year-end championships. Sabalenka did not have much success in the Grand Slam singles events, but she produced much better results in doubles. Sabalenka and Mertens reached the semifinals at the French Open, losing to second seeds Babos and Mladenovic.[65] They then reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, losing to third seeds Hsieh and Strýcová.[66] These were Sabalenka's first two appearances in at least the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam event. Sabalenka and Mertens had their best result of the year at the US Open. As the fourth seed at the event, they made it to the final without playing another top-ten-seeded team. In the final, they faced eighth seeds Victoria Azarenka and Ashleigh Barty, the latter of whom had won the title a year earlier with CoCo Vandeweghe. Sabalenka and Mertens defeated Azarenka and Barty in straight sets for their first Grand Slam title in any discipline.[67] With this title, Sabalenka made her top 10 debut in doubles at No. 6 in the world.[14]
Sabalenka and Mertens made one more final during the year, finishing runner-up at the Wuhan Open, where Sabalenka won the singles title.[68] Their three big titles helped them win the Race to Shenzhen and qualify for the WTA Finals as the top seeds. Before the event, Sabalenka and Mertens moved up to No. 2 and No. 3 in the rankings, respectively, behind only world No. 1, Barbora Strýcová.[14] At the WTA Finals, the pair were placed in a round robin group with third seeds Babos and Mladenovic, fifth seeds Chan Hao-ching and Latisha Chan, as well as eighth seeds Anna-Lena Grönefeld and Demi Schuurs. In their opening match, they were upset by Grönefeld and Schuurs in a match tiebreak.[69] After defeating the Chan sisters, Sabalenka and Mertens lost to Babos and Mladenovic in another match tiebreak. They did not advance out of their group.[70]
2020: Three WTA titles, top 10
Sabalenka continued her late-season surge by reaching the semifinals in Adelaide. She came back from a final set deficit against Hsieh Su-wei before sliding past Bernarda Pera and shocking second seed Simona Halep, whom she had never won a set against before, in straight sets.[71] She then lost in straight sets to eventual runner-up Dayana Yastremska. Despite her excellent start to the season, she was upset by Carla Suárez Navarro in two tie-breakers in the first round of the Australian Open. She enjoyed moderate success in doubles, with Mertens reaching the quarterfinals before losing to the Chan sisters. Her next tournament was the Dubai Tennis Championships, where she made the quarterfinals with wins over Maria Sakkari and doubles partner Mertens. There she faced Simona Halep. Despite taking the first set, she could not repeat her earlier upset, falling to the eventual champion in three sets. She rebounded at the Qatar Open, reaching the final with wins over Anett Kontaveit, Maria Sakkari, Zheng Saisai and Svetlana Kuznetsova. In the final, she defeated Petra Kvitová in straight sets to claim her third Premier-5 title. After tennis resumed in August due to COVID-19, she was the second seed in Lexington, where she survived Madison Brengle in three sets but then fell in a three set thriller to 16-year-old Coco Gauff. Her results continued to disappoint as she seeded fifth and crashed out in the second round of Cincinnati and New York to Jessica Pegula and a resurgent Victoria Azarenka. She had moderate success in doubles, reaching the quarterfinals of both events. Her results in singles began to improve on clay as she reached the semifinals in Strasbourg and the third round of the French Open losing to Elina Svitolina[72] and Ons Jabeur,[73] respectively. That was Sabalenka's last loss of the season. In Ostrava, she came from behind in the decider down to avenge her Lexington loss to Gauff and lost the first ten games of her quarterfinal match against Sara Sorribes Tormo before winning the next twelve to win. In the final, she avenged her US Open loss to Azarenka, defeating her compatriot in straight sets. She then also took the Linz title by beating Elise Mertens in the final. This gave Sabalenka the first year-end top-10 finish in her career.
2021: Doubles No. 1, singles No. 2
Sabalenka entered 2021 on a nine-match winning streak and participated in her first tournament at the Abu Dhabi Open as the fourth seed. She defeated Polona Hercog in straight sets, coming back from a 5–2 deficit in the first set, and then defeated Ajla Tomljanović and Ons Jabeur to reach the quarterfinals, similarly in straight sets. She beat Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals, where she dropped her first set of the week before defeating Maria Sakkari in straight sets. In the final, Sabalenka defeated first-time finalist Veronika Kudermetova in straight sets, losing just four games in total. The run to the title at Abu Dhabi extended her winning streak to 15 matches and catapulted her to a new ranking of No. 7.[74]
Sabalenka went into the Australian Open looking to make a Grand Slam singles quarterfinal for the first time in her career. In three sets, she was defeated in the fourth round by 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams. Sabalenka won the doubles competition with Elise Mertens. By winning the title, Sabalenka ascended to world No. 1 in the doubles rankings for the first time in her career on 22 February 2021.[75]
As defending champion at the Qatar Open in Doha, and after receiving a first-round bye, Sabalenka was defeated in her first match by eventual finalist Garbiñe Muguruza in three sets.[76] At the Dubai Tennis Championships, in her first tournament since becoming No. 1 in doubles, Sabalenka and Mertens received a bye in the first round. They lost their opening match to Jessica Pegula and Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Sabalenka cruised through to the quarterfinals in the singles event, defeating 15th seed Anett Kontaveit along the way, before losing to Muguruza for the second time in as many weeks, again in three sets.[77]
Sabalenka won the title at the Madrid Open, facing Ashleigh Barty in the championship match.[78] It was a rematch of the 2021 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix final, two week earlier, as Sabalenka faced her vanquisher, world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty. As a result of her fourth WTA 1000 title, she entered the top 5 rankings in singles at world No. 4.[79]
Sabalenka and compatriot Victoria Azarenka won the doubles event at the German Open, defeating the top-seeded pair of Demi Schuurs and Nicole Melichar.[80]
Seeded second at Wimbledon, Sabalenka reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal and semifinal, defeating 18th seed Elena Rybakina and 21st seed Ons Jabeur in straight sets, respectively. She then lost her semifinal match against Karolína Plíšková in three sets. As a result of her performance at Wimbledon, she reached a career-high ranking in the world No. 3 in the WTA singles rankings.[81] Sabalenka became the third Belarusian woman to reach the last four of Wimbledon following Natasha Zvereva in 1998 and Victoria Azarenka in 2011 and 2012.[82]
Sabalenka continued her season at the Canadian Open in Montreal. She reached the semifinals but lost to Karolína Plíšková, in straight sets.[83] She then lost her opening-round match against Paula Badosa at the Cincinnati Open.[84] Despite the loss, Sabalenka reached a career-high ranking of world No. 2.[85]
At the US Open, Sabalenka reached her second consecutive (and second overall) major semifinal following wins over Danielle Collins, Elise Mertens, and Barbora Krejčíková. In the semifinal, she lost to Leylah Fernandez in three sets.[86]
Due to a positive COVID-19 test, Sabalenka was not able to play at Indian Wells.[87]
2022: WTA Finals runner-up, US Open semis
Sabalenka began her season at the 2022 Adelaide International 1 as the second seed. After a first-round bye, Sabalenka lost in the second round in straight sets to Kaja Juvan. Sabalenka served 18 double faults to five aces.[88] Next, Sabalenka received a wildcard to enter the Adelaide International 2 and was seeded top, but lost her first round to a qualifier, world No. 93 Rebecca Peterson, in three sets. Once again, Sabalenka struggled with her serve, recording 21 double faults for the match.[89]
She entered the Australian Open as the second seed.
Sabalenka's serving struggles continued, but she managed to dig out three-set wins against world No. 128 Storm Sanders, No. 100 Wang Xinyu, and No. 41 Markéta Vondroušová to advance to the fourth round for the second time in her career. She faced off against giant-killer Kaia Kanepi, who had defeated the 16th seed Angelique Kerber in the first round. Kanepi prevailed in a tight three-set match, which ended in a third-set super-tiebreak.[90][91] Sabalenka managed to save four match points during the match, but also served 15 double faults to Kanepi's four.[92]
Sabalenka began the grass-court season at the Libéma Open as the top seed, where she made the final, losing to Ekaterina Alexandrova. She then entered the German Open as the third seed but lost in the first round to Veronika Kudermetova. Due to Wimbledon's ruling on Russian and Belarusian players, Sabalenka was banned from participating in the event due to the Russia's invasion of Ukraine, cutting her grass season short.[98]
She opened the US hardcourt swing in Silicon Valley Classic, losing to Daria Kasatkina in the quarterfinals. She then played the Canadian Open, losing to Coco Gauff in the third round. Her best result since Stuttgart came at Cincinnati Open, where as the sixth seed, she made the semifinals, defeating Anna Kalinskaya, Shelby Rogers, and Zhang Shuai before losing to eventual champion Caroline Garcia in three sets.[99] She then made her best run of the season at the US Open. Seeded sixth, she defeated Catherine Harrison, Kaia Kanepi, Clara Burel, 19th seed Danielle Collins, and 22nd seed & former world No. 1 Karolína Plíšková to reach the semifinals, matching her previous best result from 2021. In her second-round match against Kanepi, Sabalenka came back from a set and behind in the second to win in three sets, saving two match points in the process. In the semifinals, she was defeated by world No. 1, Iga Świątek, for the fourth time this season.[100]
At the San Diego Open, Sabalenka defeated Sloane Stephens in three sets before losing to Donna Vekić in the quarterfinals.[101] In receipt of a first-round bye in Guadalajara, she lost to Liudmila Samsonova in the second round. However, she managed to qualify for the WTA Finals for a second straight year.[102][103] There, she reached the final, defeating world No. 3 Jessica Pegula and No. 2 Ons Jabeur in the round-robin stage, and No. 1 Iga Świątek in the semifinals, but lost to Caroline Garcia in straight sets. She became the fourth woman to defeat the top 3 players at the same tournament, joining Steffi Graf (1999 Roland Garros), Serena Williams (2002 Miami Open), and Venus Williams (2008 WTA Finals).[104][105]
Sabalenka entered Adelaide 1 as the second seed. She reached her first final of the season by defeating Liudmila Samsonova,[106] Markéta Vondroušová, Irina-Camelia Begu en route.[107] Then she defeated Czech teenage qualifier Linda Nosková to win her first title since Madrid 2021 and 11th career title without dropping a single set.[108]
Sabalenka entered the Australian Open as the fifth seed and one of the title contenders. She defeated Tereza Martincová, Shelby Rogers, former doubles partner and 26th seed Elise Mertens,[109] and the previous week's Adelaide 2 champion and world no. 10 Belinda Bencic[110] to reach her first-ever Australian Open quarterfinal. She then beat Donna Vekić to reach her fourth Grand Slam semifinal,[111] and won her tenth consecutive match by beating Magda Linette in the semifinal to make her first ever major final.[112][113] In the final, she defeated reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in three sets to win her first major title.[114][115] She became the second Belarusian to ever win a major singles title, and the first since Victoria Azarenka a decade earlier.[116][117][118][119] After winning the title in Melbourne, Sabalenka rose back to No. 2 in the WTA rankings.
In Dubai, Sabalenka defeated Lauren Davis[120] and Jeļena Ostapenko to reach the quarterfinals, where she fell to the eventual champion Barbora Krejčíková in three sets.[121] She then participated in Indian Wells, where she defeated Evgeniya Rodina[122] and took revenge on Krejčíková for her last defeat in three sets.[123] Then she beat Coco Gauff[124] and Maria Sakkari to reach her first Indian Wells final,[125] where she lost to Elena Rybakina in a rematch of the 2023 Australian Open final.[126] In Miami, Sabalenka defeated Shelby Rogers, Marie Bouzková, and Krejčíková each in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals, where she was defeated by Sorana Cîrstea.
Sabalenka began her grass court season in Berlin, defeating Vera Zvonareva before losing to Veronika Kudermetova. Sabalenka next competed at Wimbledon, where she reached her fourth straight major semifinal. Sabalenka defeated Panna Udvardy, Varvara Gracheva, Anna Blinkova, Ekaterina Alexandrova, and Madison Keys, before losing to Ons Jabeur, despite leading by a set and a break.[127][note 1]
Her next tournament was Montréal, where she defeated Petra Martić, before losing in three sets to eventual runner-up Liudmila Samsonova.[127][note 1] She next reached the semifinals in Cincinnati, defeating Ann Li, Daria Kasatkina, and Ons Jabeur, before falling once again in three sets to Karolína Muchová.[127][note 1] At the US Open, Sabalenka reached the semifinals by defeating Maryna Zanevska, Jodie Burrage, Clara Burel, Daria Kasatkina, and Zheng Qinwen in straight sets, dropping just 21 games in all five matches.[127][note 1] Following these wins, Sabalenka became the first player since Serena Williams in 2016 to reach the semifinals of all four major events in one year. She faced Madison Keys in the semifinals, recovering from a set and break deficit and serving to stay in the match four times in the final two sets. In her second major final of the year, Sabalenka faced Coco Gauff, and lost in three sets. Due to the loss of world No. 1 Iga Świątek in the fourth round, Sabalenka became, for the first time, the world No. 1 tennis player at the conclusion of the tournament.[129] Sabalenka became the 29th player to be ranked No. 1 in the world on the WTA Tour, and the second Belarusian, after Victoria Azarenka. She was also just the eighth female player to have been ranked No. 1 in the Open Era in both singles and doubles at some point in their careers.[130][b] With Sabalenka reaching the final, she became the first woman since Serena Williams to reach the semifinals or better at all four majors in a season since 2016.[131]
After the US Open, Sabalenka reached the quarterfinals of the China Open, losing to Rybakina. At the WTA Finals, she defeated Rybakina and Sakkari and lost to Pegula in the group stage. Sabalenka then lost in the semifinals to Świątek, who would go on to win the event.[132] As a result, Świątek reclaimed the world No. 1 ranking and Sabalenka finished as year-end No. 2.[133] In December, Sabalenka was named the ITF World Champion.[134]
She reached the quarterfinals at Stuttgart, where she was eliminated by Markéta Vondroušová.[147] As the defending champion in Madrid, she defeated Magda Linette,[148]Robin Montgomery,[149]Danielle Collins[150] and Mirra Andreeva,[151] before edging an epic three-set semifinal victory over world No. 4, Elena Rybakina.[152] In total, she played four three-set matches to reach the final, dropping 60 games in the process, the most to reach the women's singles final in Madrid.[152] In a rematch of the previous year's final, she faced Iga Świątek. Sabalenka had three championship points during the match, but eventually lost.[153] In Rome, she saved three match points in her fourth-round match against Elina Svitolina and endured a lower-back injury before defeating her opponent in three sets.[154] In the quarterfinal, she earned her third WTA top-10 win of the year by defeating Jeļena Ostapenko.[155] It was followed by a semifinal victory over Danielle Collins,[155] before Sabalenka fell again to Iga Świątek in the final, this time in straight sets.[156]
She entered the French Open as the second seed, and defeated Erika Andreeva,[157]Moyuka Uchijima,[158] Paula Badosa[159] and 22nd seed Emma Navarro in straight sets.[160] In the quarterfinal, she was hampered by stomach issues[161] and lost to Mirra Andreeva in three sets.[162] With this loss, she fell in the WTA ranking to No. 3.[citation needed]
Sabalenka suffered a right shoulder injury that forced her to retire during her quarterfinal match against Anna Kalinskaya at the Berlin Ladies Open in June[163] and she withdrew from the 2024 Wimbledon Championships, having failed to recover in time to play.[164] She won the Cincinnati Open in August, with victories over Iga Świątek in the semifinals[165] and Jessica Pegula in the final.[166]
In September, Sabalenka won the US Open, overcoming qualifier Priscilla Hon,[167]Lucia Bronzetti,[168] 29th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova,[169] former doubles partner Elise Mertens,[170] Olympic champion and seventh seed Zheng Qinwen[171] and 13th seed Emma Navarro,[172] before defeating sixth seed Jessica Pegula in straight sets in the final to claim her third major title.[173][174]
Sabalenka continued her great form at the China Open in Beijing, where she defeated Mananchaya Sawangkaew,[175]Ashlyn Krueger[176] and Madison Keys all in straight sets to increase her winning streak to 15 matches.[177] Sabalenka lost in the quarterfinals to Karolína Muchová in three sets.[178]
At the Wuhan Open, where she won back-to-back in 2018 and 2019, before the tournament was suspended due to COVID-19 from 2020 until 2023, Sabalenka defeated Kateřina Siniaková in straight sets in her opening match.[179] In the next round, she came back from a set down against Yulia Putintseva to advance to the quarterfinals,[180] where she defeated Magdalena Fręch.[181] Sabalenka faced fourth seed Coco Gauff in the semifinals, mounting a comeback from a set and a break down to the reach final for the third time.[182] In the final, she defeated fifth seed Zheng Qinwen in three sets to lift her third Wuhan Open title and her second WTA 1000 for the 2024 season.[183]
After 11 months off the top in October, she regained the WTA world No.1 ranking.[184] Following wins against Zheng Qinwen[185]and Jasmine Paolini in her first two group matches at the WTA Finals,[186] combined with Iga Świątek's loss to Coco Gauff, Sabalenka for the first time would finish the year as No. 1.[187] Sabalenka lost her last group match to Elena Rybakina[188] and was defeated by Gauff in the semifinals.[189]
Sabalenka represented Belarus at the Junior Fed Cup in 2014, with the team finishing in sixth place.[192] She then made her senior Fed Cup debut for Belarus in April 2016, losing a dead rubber doubles match against Russia. Nonetheless, the Belarusian team led by Victoria Azarenka and Aliaksandra Sasnovich won the tie to qualify for the top-tier World Group the following season for the first time in their history.[15]
2017: Surprise runner-up in World Group debut
The Belarus Fed Cup team made their debut in the World Group and ultimately reached the final, despite being the underdogs in all three ties.[193][194] Little was expected from the team because they were without their veteran leader Azarenka, who missed the first two ties on maternity leave and the last because of a custody battle.[195] Without her, Belarus was led by Sabalenka and Sasnovich, neither of whom had ever been ranked above No. 76 by the time of the final.[14][196] However, they did have the advantage of playing all of their ties at home in Minsk.[193][194]
The ties in the quarterfinals against the Netherlands in February and the semi-finals against Switzerland in April both played out in the same way. While Sabalenka lost her opening matches to their opponents' respective top-ranked players of Kiki Bertens and Timea Bacsinszky, Sasnovich was able to give Belarus a 2–1 lead in each instance.[197] Sabalenka then clinched both ties, with wins over Michaëlla Krajicek and No. 54 Viktorija Golubic, respectively.[198][199] She was only ranked No. 125 at the time of the semifinal, with no career tour match wins outside of Fed Cup.[200]
"I've never felt so much emotion in a match. When you play at home and you are down 0–1 and you have to win and you fight with yourself... I just started crying because it was such an important match."
—Sabalenka on her Fed Cup rubber win over Stephens.[201]
On the opening day of the final against the United States, Sabalenka upset the reigning US Open champion and world No. 13, Sloane Stephens, to level the tie after Sasnovich lost her first rubber to No. 10, CoCo Vandeweghe.[202][201] The next day began with Sabalenka losing to Vandeweghe, before Sasnovich again levelled the tie by defeating Stephens. Sabalenka and Sasnovich were then selected for the decisive doubles rubber for the Fed Cup crown, but the duo were comprehensively defeated by Vandeweghe and Shelby Rogers.[25]
Despite finishing as runner-up, Belarus's Fed Cup success helped popularize women's tennis in Belarus, and vaulted Sabalenka and Sasnovich into international prominence. Sasnovich said, "When we played the quarterfinals and semi-finals in Minsk, a lot of people were coming to see our matches. They finally saw tennis in life, and it's like a popularization... I want my country to improve even more in tennis, because I think we can have even more from Belarus."[203]
2018–19: Avoiding demotion, another semifinal
Belarus was unable to repeat their 2017 Fed Cup success in 2018. Their quarterfinal tie was held in Minsk against Germany. Although Sabalenka won both of her singles rubbers, Sasnovich and Vera Lapko lost each of theirs to set up a decisive doubles rubber. Sabalenka and doubles specialist Lidziya Marozava were selected for the match, with Sabalenka playing on short rest directly after her last singles match. After taking the first set against Anna-Lena Grönefeld and Tatjana Maria, they ultimately lost the rubber and the tie.[204]
Their next tie was again contested in Minsk as part of the World Group play-offs, with Slovakia competing to take Belarus's place in the World Group the following season. Sabalenka and Sasnovich each split their two singles rubbers, with Sabalenka being upset by Viktória Kužmová.[205] Doubles specialists Lapko and Marozava were chosen for the final rubber and the pair won the match to keep Belarus in the World Group for 2019.[206]
In the 2019 Fed Cup, Belarus were drawn against Germany in the quarterfinals for the second consecutive year. After Sasnovich won the opening rubber against Maria, Sabalenka won both of her singles rubbers against Andrea Petkovic and Laura Siegemund to clinch the tie.[207] They advanced to face Australia in the semi-finals. Only two players from each team participated: Sabalenka and Azarenka for Belarus, and Ashleigh Barty and Samantha Stosur for Australia. Both Sabalenka and Azarenka defeated Stosur, but lost to Barty. In the decisive doubles rubber, Barty and Stosur won in three sets to eliminate Belarus.[208]
Rivalries
Iga Świątek
Sabalenka and Iga Świątek have met twelve times since 2021, with Świątek in control of the head-to-head at 8–4.[209] Their rivalry is seen as becoming one of the greatest in women's tennis.[210][211] Their most praised match is the 2024 Madrid Open final in which Świątek defeated defending champion Sabalenka in three sets in 3 hours and 11 minutes, saving three championship points in the process.[212][213] Moreover, one of their most epic matches was also at Madrid open but this time was back in 2023, 2023 Madrid Open, where Sabalenka won in three sets in 2 hours and 25 minutes against Świątek to claim her second Madrid title, her fifth WTA Masters 1000 title.[214]
Elena Rybakina
Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina have met ten times since 2019, with Sabalenka in control of the head-to-head at 6–4.[215] Both Sabalenka and Rybakina are aggressive baseliner, and they have the potential to become a great rivalry. One of their epic match is the 2024 Madrid Open where Sabalenka came back from a set and a break down.[216] Moreover, they also played at the 2023 Indian Wells Open where Rybakina won to gain her first victory against Sabalenka.[217]
Coco Gauff
Sabalenka and Coco Gauff have met nine times since 2020, with Gauff leading the head-to-head at 5–4.[218] They have played each other multiple times at majors, the first being the 2023 US Open final.[219] Gauff won that match after losing the first set.[220] Sabalenka defeated Gauff at the 2024 Australian Open.[221][222]
Ashleigh Barty
Sabalenka and Ashleigh Barty have met eight times since 2018, with the head-to-head tied at 4–4.[223]
Donna Vekić
Sabalenka and Donna Vekić have met eight times since 2016, with Vekić in control of the head-to-head at 6–2.[224]
Playing style
Sabalenka serving
Sabalenka is a baseliner with a powerful, aggressive style. She has a powerful serve, and equally powerful groundstrokes, and her game is based around taking control of points and hitting winners. She has said "I hope all my shots can be strong, but my serve, I feel is the best."[3] Sabalenka's strong serve, which can reach 200 km/h (124 mph), allows her to serve a large number of aces; in 2023, she ranked third of all players in aces served, at 401. Her serve is inconsistent, however, leading to a high double fault count; she served 166 double faults in 2020, the most of any player.[225] Sabalenka notably suffered from the yips from the 2021 WTA Finals and into 2022, serving 152 double faults in 11 matches, an average of 14 double faults a match. Her second serve began to show improvements from August 2022, having worked with a biomechanics expert following the 2022 Canadian Open. Overall, Sabalenka served 440 double faults in 2022.[226] Her groundstrokes are often hit with relentless pace and depth.[227] Tennis broadcaster and former professional player Mary Carillo praised the power in her style of play along with her fierce attitude, describing her game as "big babe tennis personified".[228] Although Sabalenka can hit a lot of winners, they can be accompanied by a lot of unforced errors. In her first career top ten victory against Karolína Plíšková, she hit 40 winners and 39 unforced errors.[227] Her second career top ten victory against Caroline Wozniacki was similar, featuring 64 winners and 54 unforced errors.[38] Her coach Dmitry Tursunov credited her improvement in the summer of 2018 on developing better shot selection. He said, "The major thing is she stopped trying [to] hit a winner with every shot."[229]
Sabalenka prefers playing on grass and hard courts. She commented, "This year [in 2017] I played for the first time on grass courts [during Wimbledon]. And I really liked it. I enjoyed my game on the grass courts, the feeling of grass, that's nice. I think my game is suited for grass and for hard courts."[3] On clay, she made both the singles and doubles finals at the 2018 Ladies Open Lugano.[230] She won her first clay court title at the 2021 Madrid Open.[231]
Sabalenka frequently accompanies her shots with loud grunting. She said, "Honestly, I don't even hear myself when I am playing." She expressed her hope that her grunting does not disturb her opponents.[232] At the Australian Open in 2018, the crowd mocked her habit in a match against Ashleigh Barty.[31]
Coaches
Sabalenka had worked with Khalil Ibrahimov for two years up until early 2018. At this point, she began working with former Swedish professional tennis players Magnus Norman and Magnus Tideman.[233][234]Dmitry Tursunov became her primary coach in time for the grass court season in 2018.[235] Sabalenka briefly split with Tursunov after the 2019 US Open. Although they reunited later in the year, she made the split permanent at the end of the season. Sabalenka briefly worked with Dieter Kindlmann before switching coaches to her longtime hitting partner and compatriot Anton Dubrov, aged 25 at the time.[236][237] As of 2024[update], her coaching team includes Dubrov; fitness trainer Jason Stacy, a martial arts expert; and hitting partner Andrei Vasilevski.[237]
Sponsorships
Sabalenka has been endorsed by Nike for apparel and shoes since the beginning of her professional career. Nike began to design custom garments for Sabalenka starting from the 2023 US Open. She is also endorsed by Wilson, specifically using the Wilson Blade range of racquets.[238]
Sabalenka's father, Sergey Sabalenka, a former ice hockey player, died suddenly in 2019 at age 43. He had meningitis.[242][243]
Sabalenka's boyfriend since 2021, Konstantin Koltsov, died of an apparent suicide in March 2024 at age 42.[244][245][246] Sabalenka later confirmed the couple were separated at the time of his death.[247]
Political views
In August 2020, during the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests, Sabalenka criticized the government of Alexander Lukashenko for its dispersal of peaceful protests and called for no violence but was criticized by members of the Belarusian opposition for not using her platform to advocate the protest movement's goals.[248][249] She separately praised the Belarusian government for "everything that is done for the country in general and for sports in particular".[248] In 2020, during widespread protests after the disputed election, Sabalenka signed an open letter that said that sport should remain outside of politics.[250][251] Belarusian media considered the letter supportive of Lukashenko, as it followed an open letter by Belarusian sporting figures demanding the election be invalidated.[252]
Following the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sabalenka expressed support for the Ukrainian people and the use of Ukraine-colored ribbons: "I feel like people need our support. I just hope they understand that we're all really concerned. I think even 'sad' isn't even the right word."[253][254] In January 2023, with regard to the war and the banning of Russian and Belarusian players from the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, Sabalenka said, "I just understand that it's not my fault."[255] Her comments on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the situation of Ukrainian tennis players were criticized by Lesia Tsurenko's coach Nikita Vlasov and former Ukrainian player Sergiy Stakhovsky for lacking substance and compassion.[256][257] Sabalenka later indicated support for ending the war in Ukraine, saying: "If I could stop the war I would do it but unfortunately that doesn't lie in my hands. I just hope for peace."[258] During a press conference at the 2023 French Open, when asked about the war by Ukrainian journalist Daria Meshcheriakova, she said: "Nobody in this world, Russian athletes or Belarusian athletes, support the war. Nobody. How can we support the war? Nobody, normal people will never support it."[259] She later said: "I don't want my country to be in any conflict, I don't support war, meaning I don't support Lukashenko right now."[259][260][261]
Television and film
Sabalenka appears in the tennis docuseries Break Point, which premiered on Netflix on 13 January 2023.[262]
^"Сабаленка на заклік не маўчаць аб сітуацыі ў Беларусі: "Пара б ужо паразумнець. Ну нічога, і такіх зямля носіць, на жаль"". Nasha Niva (in Belarusian). 12 October 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2023. У жніўні Арына Сабаленка асудзіла разгон мірных пратэстаў. «Я не магу паверыць, што ўсё гэта адбываецца ў маёй мірнай роднай Беларусі, пісала 13 жніўня ў сваім інстаграме найлепшая беларуская тэнісістка, 11-я ракетка свету. — Я не магу спаць ужо чацвёртую ноч. Я не магу глядзець на жорсткасць у адносінах да безабаронных людзей. Навошта? Калі ласка, спыніце гвалт!!! Беражыце сябе і сваіх блізкіх, мае дарагія беларусы». [In August, Aryna Sabalenka condemned the dispersal of peaceful protests. "I can't believe that all this is happening in my peaceful native Belarus," the best Belarusian tennis player, the 11th ranked player in the world, wrote on her Instagram on August 13. - I can't sleep for the fourth night already. I can't stand the cruelty towards defenseless people. Why? Please stop the violence!!! Take care of yourself and your loved ones, my dear Belarusians."]
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