Aryna Sabalenka has played four tournaments so far this year and won three of them.
Her season started in the sunshine and humidity of Queensland, Australia, at the Brisbane Open. There, as defending champion, she cruised through the draw in straight sets without the need for a tiebreak. She defeated 16th seed Marta Kostyuk, 6-4, 6-3, for the title.
Having warmed up on the Greenset surface at Pat Rafter Arena, she travelled south to Melbourne for the Australian Open. There she hoped for a three-peat of titles, but was thwarted by one of her main rivals, Elena Rybakina.
In an exciting final that could have gone either way right to the end, Rybakina calmly fought back from 0-3 down in the deciding set to prevail 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Both players had won 92 points in the match.
Despite Sabalenka’s disappointment with the way her Australian Open campaign turned out, she immediately recovered to claim the Sunshine Double.
Beginning with Indian Wells, a rampant Sabalenka was broken only twice all week. Up to the final, she had saved 14 of 16 break points against her.
Featuring in the final for the third time, she lost last year to Mirra Andreeva and to Rybakina in 2023.
Seeded No. 3, Rybakina was to be her opponent again this year.
Indian Wells would be Rybakina’s fourth final of her last eight tournaments. She had won all three of those previous finals, two of them against Sabalenka, but the Kazakhstani couldn’t beat the Belarusian this time.
As is her habit, Rybakina took the first set – breaking and stretching her lead out to 5-2, before sealing it 6-3.
Remarkably, it was only the second set Sabalenka had lost all year, the other one also being to Rybakina, in the Australian Open final.
The next set began with the players breaking each other before Sabalenka raced out to 4-1. At 5-3, her precise backhand winner down the line brought up set point, but Rybakina returned with a backhand winner of her own. Sabalenka sent a kicking ace out wide to gain her second set point, which Rybakina conceded by returning long.
At the 1-1 in the third set, Sabalenka came from 0-40 down to break serve. A game later at 1-3, Rybakina held to love with a backhand winner to the baseline.
Soon, aces and break points became abundant. Two aces assisted Rybakina to 3-4, but Sabalenka saved two break points and served two aces to take the score to 5-3.
Rybakina mustered another ace to hold, then earned two more break points, claiming the first by gently tapping an overhead into the open court.
She was forced to save a torrent of five break points to take the lead, 6-5, before Sabalenka levelled.
Neither player had lost a tiebreak this year.
With a mini-break against her at 3-5, Sabalenka forged her way back to 5-5 and then saved a match point at 5-6. By that stage, the players were feeling the heat. At the final change of ends, Sabalenka asked a ball girl to provide shade with an umbrella. Rykbakina had become half a step slower and soon gifted Sabalenka a championship point with an errant volley, then followed up by returning an excellent serve long for 8-6.
The third set had taken 73 minutes.
“Well, guys, what a day! It’s boiling hot, I’m not sure if I can make sense right now but I’ll try my best.”
Having acknowledged her opponent and everyone involved with the tournament, she added “And thank God I got this trophy”.
During her speech, the champion flashed her engagement ring to the crowd, while her fiancé replied by forming a heart with his hands.
“What a week! Getting a party, getting engaged and winning a title. I’ll definitely remember it till the rest of my life!”
Afterwards, Sabalenka took her panting dog from her fiancé and put the pet in the drinks fridge to lick the ice.
In the second leg of the Sunshine Double, the Miami Open presented by Itau, Rybakina lost again to Sabalenka, though this time in the semis, 4-6, 3-6, in 79 minutes.
Another of Sabalenka’s main rivals, Iga Świątek, lost in the second round to her compatriot Magda Linette, 1-6, 7-5, 3-6.
But another major rival, Coco Gauff, was still around to challenge Sabalenka in the final.
Their match began with a double break to Sabalenka for 6-2.
In the second set, at 3-3, Sabalenka’s backhand started misfiring. With a love game for 5-4, Gauff went on to take the set in the next game and the crowd erupted for their local Florida girl.
Up until this point in the match, Sabalenka had made 16 backhand errors, 14 of them forced as Gauff targeted the shot.
Happily for Sabalenka, her backhand made a welcome return in the final set. She broke and made it out to 4-2. Two games later, Gauff was serving to stay in match. Four errors between the players meant 30-30. Championship point came as Sabalenka stretched for an odd floating shot that landed just inside the baseline. Gauff hit wide at the net and Sabalenka had won the Sunshine Double.
In her champion’s speech, she commended Gauff. “You’re a fighter. You push me so hard to be a better player. I like our rivalry.”
Having lost the final of the tournament she would most have wanted to win of the four she entered this year – the grand slam in Melbourne – Sabalenka has still come away with titles from a WTA 500 and two 1000 events.
Title photo by Getty Images
Update
At her next tournament, the Mutua Madrid Open, Sabalenka lost to 30th seed Hailey Baptiste in a 152 minute quarterfinal 6-2, 2-6, 6-7(6).