Former six-time Grand Slam doubles champion Rennae Stubbs thought Aryna Sabalenka's 2025 season was "a little bit of failure" just because the world No. 1 played extremely well across all the biggest tournaments, but still finished the year with only one Grand Slam title.
When the 2025 season started, Sabalenka had a chance to make tennis history by becoming one of the few players who have completed an Australian Open three-peat. The 27-year-old was progressing nicely at Melbourne Park – made her third consecutive final at the tournament – but then fell just short after being upset by Madison Keys in a three-set thriller.
Then came a maiden French Open final for Sabalenka. There, the Belarusian was up by a set before she started to uncontrollably blast unforced errors and ended up losing to Coco Gauff. At Wimbledon, the world No. 1 failed to make her first final after losing a tight three-setter to Amanda Anisimova.
While Sabalenka managed to win the US Open and avoid going Slam-less in 2025, she suffered another heartbreak in her last tournament of the year after losing 3-6 6-7 (3) to Elena Rybakina in the Riyadh final and falling just short of landing her first WTA Finals title.
Stubbs: Sabalenka's year was a little bit of failure… She'd be highly disappointed that she didn't get more Slams
"You've hit the pinnacle by becoming world No. 1 two years in a row, like the consistency that she had this year was outrageously good. But having only won one, essentially one major title, the US Open, I would say that she would say that her year was a little bit of a failure," Stubbs said on her podcast.
"She's been so good, and consistently the best player all year, and making all the finals that she did, I think she would be highly disappointed that she lost in the finals of the Australian Open, that she lost in the semifinals of Wimbledon. She also lost the French Open final, and then she lost her WTA Final. I think that for her, someone who's that dominant, she would be very disappointed that she didn't get more major titles under her belt this year."
Following her Wimbledon semifinal, Sabalenka admitted that she absolutely didn't want to finish the season without a Grand Slam title.
After losing to Rybakina in the WTA Finals final, Sabalenka revealed that she was planning to go to the Maldives and analyze her season with tequila shots.
