Aryna Sabalenka Makes Feelings Known on Serena Williams’ Possible Shock Comeback: “It Would Be Fantastic”
Aryna Sabalenka will be hoping to improve her head-to-head record over her Australian Open final opponent, Elena Rybakina, to 9-6.
Follow Us
Aryna Sabalenka, Serena Williams (Image via X/Roland Garros, Tiempo De Tenis)
🔍 Explore this post with:
Aryna Sabalenka will be playing her career’s fourth consecutive final at the Australian Open. On Thursday (January 29), the Belarusian stormed past Elina Svitolina to inch closer to her third title at Melbourne Park.
Sabalenka improved her head-to-head record over the Ukrainian to 6-1. The 27-year-old clinched her career’s first Major singles title at the 2023 Australian Open by battling past Elena Rybakina and defended it the following year against Qinwen Zheng.
But last year, Madison Keys denied her the three-peat. Since the 2023 Australian Open, Sabalenka has reached the final of every hardcourt Grand Slam event.
At the press conference following her win over Svitolina, Sabalenka was asked about Serena Williams‘ possible comeback. The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, who called time on her career at the 2022 US Open, refused to rule out a possible comeback to tennis on The Today Show.
I’ve heard she’s enjoying her life, and whatever makes her happy makes me happy too. If she wants to come back, that’s her decision. It’ll be fun to see her back on the circuit. She has a great personality and is a lot of fun. It would be fantastic. I haven’t spoken to anyone about it. I feel like we all feel the same way. It’s her life, let her do what makes her happy.
Aryna Sabalenka said
If Williams makes a U-turn, would she be able to compete against the top players? Williams is 44, and age for sure would be making things harder for her. Her sister and seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Venus Williams is still a part of the tour, and even though she’s giving tough competition to her opponents, so far she has registered just one match win since making her comeback in last year’s Citi Open.
Williams met Sabalenka just once and won that match. They clashed in the fourth round of the 2021 Australian Open.
Aryna Sabalenka will lock horns with Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open final
After breezing past Elina Svitolina, Aryna Sabalenka has set up a blockbuster Australian Open final against Elena Rybakina, who knocked out 2024 US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Sabalenka holds an 8-6 head-to-head edge over the Kazakh ace but lost when they met in the championship clash of last year’s WTA Finals.
Her shots are powerful, deep, and flat. It’s not easy to deal with that, but yes, we have a great history. She’s an incredible player. We’ve had many memorable battles and many finals. She and I are different players than we were in the 2023 final. We’ve been through different things, we’re stronger mentally and physically, and we play better tennis now. I’m going to approach this match as something completely different.
Aryna Sabalenka said at the press conference
Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, will be playing her career’s third Grand Slam final. Last year in the Majors, she failed to progress beyond the fourth round.
But Sabalenka, after losing the Australian Open final, suffered defeat at the hands of Coco Gauff in the French Open final. But later at the US Open, she defended her crown by going past home favorite Amanda Anisimova.
Before arriving in Melbourne, Sabalenka defended her Brisbane International title by defeating Marta Kostyuk. Rybakina also featured in the WTA 500 event in Brisbane, where Karolina Muchova knocked her out in the quarterfinals.
Last year, while Sabalenka lifted four titles from nine finals, including three Big Titles, Rybakina played three finals and won all of them. She went past Liudmila Samsonova in the Strasbourg Open final, following which she went past Ekaterina Alexandrova in the Ningbo Open final. Rybakina then beat Sabalenka in the WTA Finals.
/techfirstnow/media/agency_attachments/kATjCXskQdJKkXN0OuqW.png)