Jimmy Connors Rates Aryna Sabalenka’s 2025 Season after WTA Finals loss in Riyadh

Aryna Sabalenka reached nine tournament finals this season, winning just four of them.

Jimmy Connors Rates Aryna Sabalenka’s 2025 Season after WTA Finals loss in Riyadh

Aryna Sabalenka and Jimmy Connors (via X/Tennis Channel/Sportal.eu)

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Aryna Sabalenka’s 2025 season came to an end disappointingly after she failed to win the WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The World No.1 was seeking to win the title for the first time in her career after losing out on it in 2022 against Caroline Garcia. But she failed to do so and that has prompted Tennis legend Jimmy Connors to rate her season so far.

Sabalenka began the year by winning the Brisbane International, which consolidated her chances of defending the Australian Open. But she failed to win the Australian Open as she fell to Madison Keys in the final in three sets. She reached her third final of the season at Indian Wells and lost again, this time to Mirra Andreeva.

The 27-year-old claimed her second title of the season at the Miami Open after beating Jessica Pegula. However, in her first clay-court tournament of the season at Stuttgart, she lost in the final to Jelena Ostapenko. It was at the Madrid Open, that the year-end No.1 earned her third title of the season.

After the championship claim, she failed to win any trophy again until September. During that run, she lost to Coco Gauff in the final of the French Open and fell to Amanda Anisimova in the semi-finals at Wimbledon. It was at the US Open, she claimed her fourth title and only Grand Slam of the season.

During a conversation on the Advantage Connors podcast, Jimmy Connors revealed that Sabalenka’s 2025 season was a successful one. He added that the four-time Grand Slam champion kept grinding hard, despite losing in two major finals this season:

Your opponent is out there to try and do the same thing you are, and that’s beat you and win the tournament. So counter-acting that is sometimes, you might be expecting something different, or your opponent comes up with something a bit different, or you might be a little bit off, or whatever. It’s just to keep in there and grinding, but also she can look back over this year and though she might say it was successful, she will see that she had four or five great opportunities.

Sabalenka failed to win any title after the US Open. She withdrew from the China Open, citing a minor injury, and then went on to compete at the Wuhan Open, where she was the three-time champion. But, she failed to defend the title after losing in three sets to Pegula. The Belarusian star then ended the season after her loss to Rybakina, in the final of the WTA Finals.

Tennis legend looks forward to Aryna Sabalenka’s 2026 season after an impressive 2025

Aryna Sabalenka didn’t reach the quarter-finals of just two tournaments this season and that came during the Middle East swing in Qatar and Dubai. In fact, the 27-year-old won only a single match in those two tournaments, which were her worst outings throughout the year. She reached nine tournament finals in 2025, winning only four of them.

Aryna Sabalenka
Aryna Sabalenka (Image via X/The Tennis Letter)

The loss against Elena Rybakina at the WTA Finals saw her break down in tears during her post-match ceremony. During the aforementioned conversation, Jimmy Connors revealed that he has been a big fan of Sabalenka in the last couple of years and looks forward to what she will do next season, particularly at the 2026 Australian Open:

But she had an amazing year, and she will look back and say it could have been extra special. So let’s just wait and see what happens next year. I have been a fan of hers (for five or six years). I have enjoyed watching her play, and she has that ability to come back and counteract that. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens next year when she starts playing in Australia.

Sabalenka is expected to kick off her season at the Brisbane International in Australia. The tournament will be a warm-up to the 2026 Australian Open. She will be hoping to win the Grand Slam event for the third time in her career, having won it in 2023 and 2024. Should she win the Australian Open, it will be her fifth major title.

Also Read: Former World No.3 Backs Elena Rybakina’s Partnership with Stefano Vukov Amid Scrutiny