Former Australian tennis player Rennae Stubbs recently offered a critical take on Aryna Sabalenka’s 2025 season. Although the Belarusian enjoyed a successful year filled with multiple achievements and hefty earnings, Stubbs explained why she believes Sabalenka still fell short of the standard she is capable of reaching.
Rennae Stubbs Gets Critical of Aryna Sabalenka’s 2025 Season Despite Multiple Achievements
Sabalenka enjoyed a strong season, capturing four titles, including a successful US Open title defence, WTA 1000 triumphs in Madrid and Miami, and the Brisbane International. She closed the year with an impressive 63-12 record, reaching multiple semifinals and finals along the way, notably at the Australian Open, Roland-Garros, and most recently the WTA Finals, where she fell to Elena Rybakina eventually.
The Belarusian also wrapped up the season as the WTA World No. 1 for the second year running, amassing over $15 million in prize money along the way. Yet despite the milestones and back-to-back finishes at the summit, former Australian professional Rennae Stubbs felt Sabalenka fell short of her full potential this year.
“Aryna Sabalenka, not a fantastic year. She finishes World No. 1, it’s been a long time since going back to back, since somebody has done that as World No. 1. But, having said that, I would think that she would say it was a great year, but it wasn’t the year that she would have hoped for,” she said recently on the Rennae Stubbs podcast.Â
The Aussie also praised Sabalenka’s remarkable consistency, but felt she may still view the season as slightly disappointing because she won only one Major, despite being the strongest player throughout the year.
“And that’s an amazing thing to say when you reach as many finals as she has, like Pinnacle of World, No. 1 two years in a row, the consistency that she had this year was outrageously good. But having only won one Major title, the US Open, I would say that she would say that this year was a little bit of a failure. And I mean that in the nicest way because she has been so good and a consistently the best player all year, making all the finals that she did,” she said.
The 54-year-old stressed that repeatedly stumbling at the decisive stages of Grand Slams and missing out on those titles would understandably frustrate the World No. 1. This season, Sabalenka lost the Australian Open final to Madison Keys, the French Open final to Coco Gauff, and the Wimbledon semifinal to Amanda Anisimova.
“I think she would be highly disappointed that she lost in the final of the Australian Open, that she lost in the semifinals of Wimbledon, that she lost in the final of the French Open and that she lost in the WTA Final. I think that for her, would be very disappointing that they didn’t get more Major titles under their belt this year. And she sort of deserved it, but in the end if you don’t win, you don’t deserve it,” she concluded.
Sabalenka’s most recent outing came at the season-ending WTA Finals, where she looked in commanding form. She swept past Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, and Jasmine Paolini in the group stage before outlasting Amanda Anisimova in three sets to book her place in the title match. However, her unbeaten run ended there as Elena Rybakina prevailed 6-3, 7-6(0) to claim the prestigious trophy for the first time.
