She is the only player who has managed to beat Aryna Sabalenka in a tiebreak in the whole of 2025 so far

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After coming so close at the Australian Open and Roland Garros, Aryna Sabalenka finally claimed major title number four at the US Open.

The Belarusian dropped just one set en route to the final, where she was bidding to become the first woman to successfully defend the crown at Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams in 2014.

She took the opening set 6-3 against Amanda Anisimova in the championship bout, and after being forced to a tiebreak in the second, Sabalenka emerged victorious to hoist the trophy.

It was never in doubt for the world number one when tied at six games all in the second set, having tallied a remarkable record of 21-1 in tiebreaks this year.

Aryna Sabalenka’s sole tiebreak defeat during the 2025 season

Nine of those shootout victories have come at Grand Slam events, including the first set of the French Open final against Coco Gauff.

Her sole defeat in a set decider was suffered in February at the Qatar Open, where Sabalenka crashed out in her opening match at the tournament.

Following her heartbreaking loss to Madison Keys in Melbourne, she met Ekaterina Alexandrova in the first round of the tournament in Doha.

Sabalenka’s start to the 2025 WTA season:

• Brisbane International – Champion
• Australian Open – Finalist
• Qatar Open – Round of 32

The two split sets and were tied at six games apiece in the third to take the match to a decisive tiebreak, which Alexandrova had struggled with early on in her career.

At tour-level competitions, the Russian had lost 16 of her first 17 third-set tiebreaks, but she put her poor track record behind her when trying to close out the match against Sabalenka.

Alexandrova took the third set to win 3-6, 6-3, 7-6, handing the 27-year-old just her second defeat of the season.

Aryna Sabalenka’s US Open tiebreak victories

Sabalenka faced three tiebreaks in New York on the journey to her second consecutive US Open title.

The first came in her second-round clash with Polina Kudermetova, which she took 7-4 before overcoming her compatriot in straight sets.

In the third round, Leylah Fernandez took Sabalenka to a second-set tiebreak, but was dominated 7-2 by the first seed.

Though Anisimova managed to get herself back into the final in set two, the US star could not find an answer for the eventual champion in the end, losing 7-6, (7-3).