During her defeat to Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open final, Aryna Sabalenka claims he could have been a little “more aggressive” with her serve while she was up a break in the decisive set.
After losing to Madison Keys at the same stage in 2025, the Belarusian was vying for her third Melbourne title in the previous four years.
But Rybakina won 6-4, 4-6, and 6-4 to take home her second major prize and further tip Sabalenka’s advantage in the head-to-head match to 8-7.
The Kazakh got off to a flying start by breaking in a crucial opening game, with the world No 1 unable to break back. However, after the slow start, Sabalenka held serve for 11 consecutive service games to go up 3-0 in the third.
That is where the good fortune would end as Rybakina stormed back to break her opponent in her two subsequent games, before serving it out on the first time of asking.
“I think it was, like, really aggressive tennis overall the whole match, and I feel like in that moment she kind of like had nothing to lose, so she stepped in and she played incredible points,” remarked Sabalenka during her post-match press conference.
“She was serving, so it was just one break. Probably I should – I mean, I don’t know if I have any regrets.
“Maybe I should have tried to be more aggressive on my serve, knowing that I have a break and put pressure on her, but she played incredible.
“She made some winners. I made a couple of unforced errors. Of course, I have regrets.
“You know, when you lead 3-0, and then it felt like in a few seconds it was 3-4, and I was down with a break. So it was very fast.
“Great tennis from her. Maybe not so smart for me, but as I say, today I’m a loser, maybe tomorrow I’m a winner, maybe again a loser. Hopefully not. Let’s see.”
Despite Sabalenka’s Grand Slam success, she has been on the losing end of three of her last four Grand Slam finals.
Last season, after her loss to Keys in Melbourne, she was defeated by Coco Gauff in a three-set battle at the French Open.
Nearly every statistic ended identically for Rybakina and Sabalenka, with the only material difference being the Belarusian’s disappointing break point conversion of two out of her eight opportunities.
The two-time Grand Slam champion was only slightly ahead with three out of her eight.
“No, I feel like, yeah, overall it was much better than last year, two finals I lost,” Sabalenka analysed.
In terms of my level, the choices I made, and the mindset I had throughout the entire match, I was prepared to battle because I knew she wouldn’t give it to me lightly.
“I believe I made significant progress in that area overall, yet I still lost it. However, it’s alright. I think I’m headed in the correct direction.
The WTA 1000 event, which Sabalenka last won in 2020, will take place in Doha from February 8–14.
“I don’t want to think about tennis right now, but my goals are still the same,” Sabalenka stated.
“If I get another chance in the final, I’ll do my best to fight, work hard, and put myself out there.”
