Aryna Sabalenka has experienced triumphs and disappointments on the Grand Slam stage. Last night in Melbourne, the world No. 1 was disappointed again. The world No. 1 squandered a 3-0 lead in the final and lost to Elena Rybakina 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the Australian Open women’s singles final.
It was a tough loss for Sabalenka, but definitely not the end of the world. When you perform as consistently well as Sabalenka does, especially on hard courts where she has reached at least the final of her past seven Grand Slam tournaments and won four of them, you know more opportunities are coming.
Still, she must face the fact that she is the most dominant player in the world, but she is more beatable in Grand Slam finals than she thought, and after losing to Rybakina, she has an overall record of 4-4.
Tough moments and painful losses put pressure on players. If Sabalenka had lost three sets in four Grand Slam finals, with several of those games going her way, she would probably be a six or seven-time Grand Slam champion at this point.
There should have been, there could have been, there should have been.
Sabalenka is now in dire straits, feeling she gave her best in Saturday’s final only to be savaged by one of the deadliest forces on the women’s tour.
“She played an unbelievable game and I tried my best,” Sabalenka said. “I kept fighting until the end.”
“I had a chance. It felt like I missed some opportunities, but I mean, this is tennis. Today you are a loser; tomorrow you are a winner. Hopefully this season I can be a winner instead of a loser. Just hope and pray now.”
Last year, Sabalenka was competing for a third consecutive Australian Open title when she suffered another heartbreaking loss to Madison Keys in the final. Sabalenka felt she played better in Saturday’s final and hopes to continue that form.
“Overall, it’s much better than last year,” she said. “As far as the level, the decisions I made, and my mentality throughout the fight, I was still there, I was ready to fight and I knew she wasn’t going to give it to me easily.
“So I think overall I’ve made huge progress in that area, but I’m still losing it. But that’s okay. I feel like I’m moving in the right direction.”
It’s hard to criticize Sabalenka’s effort, or even the results, in her first Grand Slam of 2026. Yes, she hopes to win more Grand Slam finals than she loses, but if we take into account her astonishing consistency across all Grand Slams – she has reached the quarterfinals in each of her last 13 Grand Slams – we will soon see that there is light at the end of the tunnel for Sabalenka.
She has an overall record of 70-8 in majors since the start of 2023, with four titles. Of course, more is on the way.
