Aryna Sabalenka has capped a brilliant season by finishing the year at world No.1.
The sparkling achievement serves as reward for an unforgettable 2024 campaign, during which she defended her Australian Open title and won her first US Open.
Now a three-time major winner, Sabalenka became only the second woman this century – after Angelique Kerber in 2016 – to win both hard-court Grand Slam titles in the same year.
But she’s not content to stop there.
“I always wanted to dominate the tour like Serena [Williams] did, like Iga [Swiatek] was able to do for so long,” Sabalenka told Arab News at the WTA Finals, where her season ended with a semifinal loss to Coco Gauff.
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“It’s really inspiring and of course I want to dominate the tour like they did. But I’m trying to focus on myself, on improving myself, to make sure that I have all of the tools to dominate the tour as they did.”
Not since Williams dominated at the Slams from late 2014 to early 2017 – in that period Serena reached 10 consecutive Grand Slam semifinals and won six titles – has a player performed as consistently well at the majors.
Since mid 2021, Sabalenka has reached at least the semifinals at nine of her past 12 Slams. In that time only one other woman has notched six appearances in the last four at the majors: Swiatek.
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After the Pole claimed the honours in back-to-back clay-court finals in Madrid and Rome, she was on the receiving end of a 6-3 6-3 Sabalenka onslaught in the Cincinnati semifinals.
Two months later, Sabalenka ended Swiatek’s uninterrupted 50-week reign at world No.1.
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And Sabalenka is true to her word – she improved every aspect of her game in a season of spectacular consolidation.
She continues to tweak a serve that transformed from coughing up double faults in 2022 to one of the game’s biggest weapons in 2023, bringing along trusty biomechanist Gavin MacMillan to the WTA Finals.
“I think I will never stop working on my serve and improving this shot. There is some gap for improvement,” she said in Riyadh.
“Basically it's not like the best shot for me. I mean, I'm confident in my serve. It's working really well for me. But I still think I can do better. That's why we're still working.
“It's not only serve he's helping me with. He's an important guy in our team… Some of my baseline shots also need some little improvements.”
Indeed, MacMillan has also helped Sabalenka make beneficial adjustments to her fearsome forehand, which she discussed en route to winning the WTA 1000 title in Wuhan.
That was her fourth title – two Slams, two 1000s – in a banner year that saw her reach seven finals and reclaim the No.1 ranking she first held briefly in late 2023.
She also added a potent drop shot to her repertoire, repeatedly bamboozling opponents who have retreated well behind the baseline to counter her blistering power.
“Five years ago if someone will tell me I will finally learn how to do this shot, I'll be like laughing. I don't have touch. I'm so bad at it,” Sabalenka admitted.
“Now I have this shot in my pocket. I think it's bringing a lot of pressure on the opponent because now they know … that sometimes I just can use my touch and not over-hit the ball. I always make them guess what I'm going to do.
“I'm really happy that finally, finally I learned this shot. I kind of have control, which is crazy to say, to be honest.
“That's just good to have, isn't it for me? For me, not for my opponent (laughter).”
In addition to technical and tactical gains, Sabalenka has never been mentally stronger.
You could see how much improvement she’d made in the 12 months since being overwhelmed in the 2023 US Open final against home-grown hero Gauff. That same boisterous New York crowd vociferously supported American Jessica Pegula in this year’s final, but a calmer, clearer Sabalenka completed a straight-sets victory.
She dealt with personal tragedy in Miami, untimely illness at Roland Garros, and a freak injury which ruled her out of Wimbledon – and still finished the year more than 1000 points clear of Swiatek at world No.1.
Sabalenka completed 2024 with an outstanding 18-1 record at the majors, and 56-14 overall.
From mid August to late September she built a 15-match winning streak, winning 30 of 31 sets in that span.
“I would say this year was definitely up and down, sometimes really downs. Was tricky. Yeah, that was tough, tough year. A lot of crazy stuff happened to me,” she said.
“I just have to move forward and I have to do what I love, make sure that I have a lot of positive moments with my friends, family, with my team.”
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After a much-deserved holiday and off-season, Sabalenka will open her 2025 season at the Brisbane International before turning her attention to the Australian Open.
She is aiming to become the first woman to win three straight AO singles titles since Martina Hingis in 1999.