Aryna Sabalenka once again failed to deliver on the biggest stage on Saturday, losing the Australian Open final to Elena Rybakina.
The Belarusian was defeated 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 by Rybakina, who has been tipped to usurp Sabalenka and achieve the world number ranking this year.
For Sabalenka, the result did little to allay any concerns regarding her record in Grand Slam finals.
The 28-year-old has now lost three of her past four finals on the big stage, dating back to the 2025 Australian Open, when she lost to Madison Keys in the final.
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Patrick Mouratoglou, the former coach of Serena Williams, has discussed Sabalenka’s poor recent record in Grand Slam finals while questioning an important decision made by the Belarusian during her loss to Rybakina.
Patrick Mouratoglou says Aryna Sabalenka broke key ‘discipline’ rule in Australian Open final loss
In a post on his Instagram account, Mouratoglou argued that Sabalenka ‘did not play a good match’ against Sabalenka, while also noting the Belarusian’s inability to capitalise on Rybakina’s poor first-serve percentage.
Rybakina made only 55 per cent of her first serves, while Sabalenka made 62 per cent. Moreover, Rybakina won 75 per cent of her first-serve points, while Sabalenka won 76 per cent.
“Rybakina is 100 per cent back to where she belongs. She’s one of the best players in the world, she should be top three,” Mouratoglou began.
“But Rybakina didn’t play a good match.
“Sabalenka, when you watch the match, you really feel she can win it. Even she should win it. Rybakina didn’t serve well and serve is by far her number one asset.
“Her percentage of first serve is very low especially in the first set. She wins the first set, which is crazy when you think about it because every time she hit a second serve she was in huge danger. And if Sabalenka was aggressive on second, she would win the immense majority of the second serves.”
Mouratoglou went on to claim that the mental side of Sabalenka’s game let her down, as it has done in the past in Grand Slam finals.
“So the question is: Sabalenka, how did you lose that match?” the Frenchman said. “The only explanation is: the mental, and the consequences of the mental.
“I think she was hurt straight away because Rybakina played really well in the first game, and after after one game she showed incredible signs of frustration! Then if you look at the number of points won by both players and if you look at the stats, they’re close in everything.
“So it was all about the big points. 24 pressure points won by Rybakina and only 15 by Sabalenka.
“So what’s the solution? Because now it’s three because now it’s three Grand Slams out of four finals that Sabalenka loses.
“The only answer is: discipline, and I felt that both players were not disciplined. They were doing things that were producing winning points most of the time, and at some moments they would do something completely different.”
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Mouratoglou, who has also worked with Naomi Osaka and Simona Halep, could not believe Sabalenka made one particular decision during the final set against Rybakina.
“Sabalenka was inside the court to return the second serve of Rybakina. She hit backhand down the line – winner every time,” he said.
“On the break point in the third after hitting backhands down the line so many times winner, suddenly she decides to go cross-court. Why?
“There is a rule that is bigger than any predictability rule: when a tactic works in tennis, you don’t change it. You change it if the opponent starts to find a solution to this one. So it’s all about discipline and to me I think that’s the lesson of this match.”
Aryna Sabalenka has a problem
Aryna Sabalenka is a fantastic player who – on her day – is almost unstoppable on a tennis court.
However, all too often tennis fans have witnessed the world number one falter on the biggest stages, and she did so again on Saturday against Rybakina.
Sabalenka led Rybakina 3-0 in the final set before losing five straight games; and eventually, the match. A collapse like this represents a damning indictment of Sabalenka’s ability to close out high-stakes contests and maintain her composure in the biggest moments.
As Mouratoglou alludes to, Sabalenka must improve this area of her game if she is to maintain her status as the world’s best player. Otherwise, she risks falling by the wayside and being tagged with the label of being an individual who underachieved during her career.
