Aryna Sabalenka fell simply wanting the most important single payday in girls's tennis historical past, dropping to Elena Rybakina within the WTA Finals on Saturday, November 8.
After the match, cameras caught the participant in tears whereas microphones picked up her trash speaking her opponent.
Sabalenka, 27, smashed her racket and receded to her chair after her defeat. Amid her frustration, she muttered in Russian, “Annually even the stick shoots,” in response to video shared on social media.
The phrase is a Russian idiom that suggests Sabalenka believes Rybakina's success was a fluke, relatively than a results of her talent.
As soon as she cooled down, Sabalenka was in a position to give credit score to Rybakina, 26.
“I get previous, I get actually delicate,” Sabalenka stated in the course of the trophy ceremony. “So many issues to be happy with. Not the very best efficiency, she was positively the higher participant. She actually smashed me out of the courtroom.”
Aryna Sabalenka Photograph by STR/NurPhoto
Even in defeat, Sabalenka set a WTA file for earnings in a single season. The $2.695 million she took house for her runner-up end introduced her 2025 whole to $15 million, shattering the earlier mark of $12.385 million set by Serena Williams in 2013.
One of many highlights of Sabalenka's season got here on the 2025 U.S. Open, the place she gained her second straight championship in girls's singles, defeating Amanda Anisimova within the closing.
Tennis famous person Amanda Anisimova made historical past as the primary American Wimbledon girls's finalist since Serena Williams in 2019. Anisimova initially established herself as a tennis famous person at age 17 when she superior to the ultimate 4 on the French Open in 2019. Australia's Ashleigh Barty gained that yr's French Open over Markéta Vondroušová of the […]
Sabalenka struck a special tone after that match in comparison with her outburst on the WTA Finals, praising Anisimova, 24, and wishing her opponent luck as her profession continues.
“Congrats Amanda on reaching again to again Slam closing [Wimbledon and US Open],” Sabalenka stated throughout an on-court interview. “I understand how a lot it hurts, dropping within the closing. However belief me, the second you're going to win the primary one — and you'll win it. You play unimaginable tennis!”
She added, “Congrats to you and your group on the belongings you've achieved after your comeback. Lady, you're gonna get pleasure from it much more after the robust losses within the closing.”
Trying again at that second and others, Sabalenka took to Instagram on Sunday, November 9, posting a carousel of pictures from the yr.
Tennis star Aryna Sabalenka is providing a behind-the-scenes look into her life off the courtroom in a brand new YouTube sequence titled Aryna's Enviornment. The “first-of-its-kind, real-time, episodic sequence” from the 27-year-old World No. 1 girls's single tennis champion will launch Thursday, July 17, on her Youtube channel, Us Weekly can solely reveal. The sequence will […]
“And that's a wrap on the 2025 season!” she wrote within the caption. “This was a tricky yr, however extremely rewarding. A Grand Slam title, World #1 for the second consecutive yr 🤯, and some trophies later… I couldn't have completed it with out Crew Tiger — the individuals which can be by my facet time and time once more. I've realized so many classes this yr by the ups and the downs of each single match and the coaching in between. Past blessed and grateful for all of it. ♥️ 2026 season — convey it on 💪🏼”
“Yet another meu amor!” her boyfriend, Georgios Frangulis, wrote within the feedback. “Can't await 2026.”
Sabalenka and Frangulis first met in January 2024, going Instagram official that July. Chatting with Us Weekly solely in June 2025, she defined what it meant to have his help amid a grueling tennis season.
“His help means a lot to me,” she instructed Us. “Being on the street and having him help me, to make me chortle and to have the ability to exercise collectively, makes life on the street really feel extra like house.”
