Aryna Sabalenka, by some distance, is the best female player on the planet.
However, she left 2025 with just one Grand Slam to show for it, despite having reached the final of two others and the semi-finals of another.
Despite her overwhelming dominance throughout the year, at the crucial moments, the Belarusian suffered, often self-destructing when in a real position of promise.
In Melbourne, she found herself in a final-set shootout for the title with Madison Keys, who had beaten her just once in her career previously. Somehow, she conspired to lose.
Then, against Coco Gauff in Paris, despite the blustery conditions, she roared into a one-set lead, yet somehow let it slip and lost in three.
Because of how good she is, most of her losses feel almost inexplicable.
One of her coaches has now emerged to explain his thought process behind those high-profile defeats.
Jason Stacy on being shouted at mid-match by Aryna Sabalenka
Speaking on The Line podcast, Jason Stacy took time to delve into Aryna Sabalenka’s career and how he helped mould her into the champion she is today.
Because, less than five years ago, she was far from the fierce four-time Grand Slam champion who challenges for every elite honour nowadays.
He has had to be patient with her, and continues to be in the face of what could often be seen as a barrage when she unloads on her coaching staff mid-way through matches.
Touching on that subject, and her mental state, Stacy admitted: “But for her to be able to truly be gracious and respectful for that moment, she can’t not be who she is. She has a lot of fire in her, a lot of energy.
“That was the part we had her, over the years, learn how to maintain. In most situations, the way I look at it is that most people’s strengths are also the biggest weaknesses, if they don’t know how to manage and regulate those things very well, right?
“And so when you find out how to regulate yourself and understand how they work, and you become more aware, then your strength will often be what gets you somewhere. But it can still also hold you back because, you know, it’d be a weakness for lack of a better word.”
His words were in reference to her racket smash immediately after that Australian Open final earlier this year, as he continued: “So it’s not like a disrespectful thing. It’s more like, like, I don’t want to be, you know, holding this in and I can’t, because this is who I am. She’s an emotionally based sort of driven person.
“You know, as long as, even when she gets upset at us or as a directed venting session or this or that, there’s always been this rule, like, it’s fine. I understand, as long as it doesn’t become personal. When it becomes a personal thing, then there’s a line that we don’t cross. Simple as that. But we all know that everybody gets frustrated.
Sum up Aryna Sabalenka’s 2025 season in one word…
“Everyone gets, you know, especially when everything you’re doing, the entire world is watching you and judging you. It’s not like when you and I make a mistake.
“So it’s just understanding that, like, that’s who she is. She’s learnt, she’s mature, she’s grown, you know, but sometimes she’s still gonna have those moments.”
Andre Agassi told Sabalenka to change a part of her game earlier this year, as another key voice desperate to help her become the dominant figure many feel she should be.
Aryna Sabalenka finished 2025 in the perfect way
Although her loss to Elena Rybakina at the WTA Finals was tough to take, how she ended her Grand Slam campaign in 2025 speaks volumes for how much Sabalenka continues to grow as a player and a person.
After all, at the Australian Open and Roland Garros, she let her emotions get the better of her, resulting in public explosions both on and off the court.
She has dealt with the consequences and apologised when necessary, but those mistakes still hang over her.
How many Grand Slam titles do you think Aryna Sabalenka will win in 2026?
However, in New York, she was laser-focused. Nothing was preventing her from claiming the major title she so richly deserved in 2025, and speaking after the US Open, she admitted: “To bring the fight and be able to handle my emotions the way I did in this final, it means a lot.
“I’m super proud right now of myself.”
Hopefully, this regulation in a vital moment, with the pressure of an entire season building on one match, bodes well for a hugely successful 2026 where she can avoid spectacular collapses forged by her own struggles.
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