Aryna Sabalenka reached Serena Williams levels of dominance at the Grand Slams in 2024.
The Belarusian’s past 12 months were certainly the best of her career as she ended the season with two more Grand Slams titles and the World number one ranking.
Her relentless power and aggression from the baseline, along with added touch and an improved serve catapulted Sabalenka to plenty of success.
Though Sabalenka ended the season with defeat to Coco Gauff at the WTA finals, she will enter 2025 as the woman to beat.
Which nine-year record did Aryna Sabalenka beat in 2024?
Aryna Sabalenka has been arguably the consistent player at Grand Slams since the start of the 2023 season.
The 26-year-old reached the semi-finals of every major that year, and won the Australian Open for the first time.
But she was more clinical in 2024, as Sabalenka successfully defended the title at Melbourne, and claimed her first US Open crown.
Sabalenka also reached the French Open quarter-finals where she lost to teenager sensation Mirra Andreeva, and she did not play at Wimbledon due to injury.
Sabalenka finished the 2024 season with a Grand Slam win percentage of 94.7%. This is the highest win rate at the majors since Serena Williams in 2015, who achieved a win rate of 96.2%.
How does Serena Williams’ 2015 Grand Slam season compare with Aryna Sabalenka in 2024?
Serena Williams produced a sensational Grand Slam season in 2015, when she tried to win all four majors in one year. She started superbly by capturing her sixth Australian Open title, defeating her old rival Maria Sharapova in the final.
Where Sabalenka failed at the French Open, Williams captured her third and final title at Roland Garros, which was one of her toughest routes to a Grand Slam championship.
On four occasions the 43-year-old came from a set down to claim glory, and on the fifth occasion against Lucie Safarova, Williams won the first set, before the Czech player won the second set tiebreak. But Williams held her nerve and won 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-2. in the final.
At Wimbledon, Williams came within two points of losing to Heather Watson in round three but the American showed her grit and dug out a three-set win to advance.
She then beat her sister Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Sharapova and Garbine Muguruza in successive matches to win title number six at SW19.
Williams was just two matches away from history when she reached the US Open semi-finals against Roberta Vinci. She stormed into a one-set lead, but Williams’ quest for the ‘calendar slam’ ended with a crushing 6-2, 4-6, 4-6 defeat, in what is one of the biggest upsets in tennis history.
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