Sabalenka top favourite for Australian Open

After winning her 18th career title in Brisbane, Aryna Sabalenka enters the 2025 Australian Open as the runaway favourite

After beating Renata Zarazua (Mexico) 6:4, 6:0, Yulia Putintseva (Kazakhstan) 7:6, 6:4, Marie Bouzkova (Czech Republic) 6:3, 6:4, and Mirra Andreeva (Russia) 6:3, 6:2, the WTA’s No.1 met unexpectedly stiff resistance from Polina Kudermetova (currently 107th in the world). The 21 years old daughter of a well-known Russian ice hockey player was able to win the 1st set, but after that, the Belarusian star took charge of the match and won it 4:6, 6:3, 6:2. President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko congratulated Ms. Sabalenka on her success.
However, winning the first tournament of the season is not the only, or even the main goal for top players, and Sabalenka is no exception. She is still trying to fully master the changes she’s introduced to her game during the off-season. “I have to be honest, it's not working very well so far, but I won't give up on the things I've trained. I hope everything works better in Melbourne,” Aryna confessed in her on-court interview after winning the final in Brisbane.

"In that second set, I just put her under a little pressure. I saw the way she was reacting, the way she was playing. She was rushing things a lot. I was like, I'm just going to stay aggressive, keep pushing, keep swinging the ball, and hopefully I'll be able to turn around this game," she added. That’s exactly what happened.

Talking about Sabalenka now, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) website pointed out, “Her signature is power, but over the past year, she’s been working with her team to diversify, to master more nuances in a game that already stands as the best in tennis.“

"It's great to have variety in your tennis. When you have to switch to plan B, you have something to play. I really believe that having those tricky shots, that slice, changing the rhythm, is really going to bring many benefits to my game,” Aryna added.

The Brisbane title is the fourth one for Sabalenka in Australia. She hopes to continue her winning streak in Melbourne in order to become the first female player to win three Australian Opens in a row after Martina Hingis’ domination there in 1997-1999.

"I definitely feel confident in my game. I'm just excited. I love playing there. I love to fight for my dream. That's the conditions where I feel really comfortable in. I'm just super excited heading to the Australian Open," explained the Belarusian star.

At age 26, Sabalenka is entering the period widely considered the peak of a tennis player’s career.

SB REFERENCE

The 2025 Australian Open tennis championship is scheduled for January 12th-January 26th. The tournament’s total prize money grew 11.6 percent in 2025 to reach record-breaking AUD96.5m, which is equivalent to $62.8m.