Tennis Hall of Famer names the match he thinks Aryna Sabalenka will regret most this year as he makes 2026 prediction

Follow us on Google Discover

Aryna Sabalenka could have some regrets when she looks back on the past year.

Sabalenka ended her season in frustration, as she lost in the final of the WTA Finals to Elena Rybakina in Riyadh.

This officially brought an end to the season for Sabalenka, as she now looks to recover and prepare for 2026.

Although Sabalenka ended the year as world number one, a Tennis Hall of Famer believes that she may have some regrets.

Steve Flink thinks Aryna Sabalenka will likely regret the Australian Open final the most this year

Sabalenka won the US Open title for a second consecutive year back in September, but she has also faced some major disappointment at Grand Slams in 2025.

This has included two final defeats, with Sabalenka losing in the French Open final to Coco Gauff and the Australian Open final to Madison Keys.

There was a lot of attention surrounding Sabalenka after the French Open final in particular due to the post-match comments she made, but Tennis Hall of Fame journalist Steve Flink believes she could have more regrets about her match against Keys.

Despite pointing out the regrets Sabalenka may have from this year, Flink has predicted her to go and have an even better year in 2026.

“I guess the one she might regret the most with her kind of edge, experience and big match playing know how is the match to Madison Keys in the finals of the Australian,” Flink said on the Court-Side with Beilinson Tennis podcast. “But still, it was a hard-fought three set match and Madi was coming off a win over Swiatek, so be it.

“The French loss to Gauff was the one where we know Sabalenka got a little distraught over the conditions and that was another three setter. So this was kind of the nature of the year, [Amanda] Anisimova with another very close three setter at Wimbledon and then she wins the US Open.

“Had she not won the Open, I think it would have been a very frustrating year, but instead she knows she remained right in the thick of things everywhere, she retained her number one ranking and I think the likelihood is that next year we will see even a little bit more success from Sabalenka.”

The WTA player who beat Aryna Sabalenka the most times in 2025

Although she may not have won as many Grand Slams as she would have liked to in 2025, Sabalenka has still enjoyed the best year of her career in terms of her win-loss record.

Sabalenka has only lost 12 of her 75 matches this year, with those defeats coming against 11 different players.

The only player to have beaten Sabalenka more than once this year is the aforementioned Rybakina, who also beat her at the Cincinnati Open in addition to the final of the WTA Finals.

Although it could be a concern for Sabalenka that she has lost to one player multiple times this year, she has also beaten Rybakina twice in 2025.

Sabalenka has already set her goals for 2026, and she will be hoping that she can live up to Flink’s prediction.