Aryna Sabalenka is often the person that a lot of players on the WTA Tour are hoping to avoid.
Sabalenka has ended the 2025 season as the world number one once again, having won four titles including the US Open.
Although she added to her Grand Slam collection, Sabalenka may have some regrets about her season.
Sabalenka will now be looking ahead to the 2026 season, and a WTA player is already hoping to play against the four-time Grand Slam champion.
Iva Jovic names Aryna Sabalenka as the WTA player she wants to face the most in 2026
American teenager Iva Jovic has enjoyed a huge rise up the WTA rankings this year, climbing from world number 191 to 35.
This has included Jovic winning her first WTA title in Guadalajara, and there is now a lot of excitement surrounding what the 17-year-old could do in 2026.
Jovic has played matches against the likes of Elena Rybakina, Jasmine Paolini and Barbora Krejcikova this year, and in an interview on the Christian’s Court YouTube channel she was asked who she would like to play next year.
With very little hesitation, Jovic revealed that she would like to play world number one Sabalenka for the first time.
“I’m going to say Sabalenka,” answered Jovic. “Yeah, number one in the world and I think that would be an unbelievable matchup and it would be fun just to see what it’s like to be on the other side of the net to a player like that.”
How many Grand Slam titles do you think Aryna Sabalenka will win in 2026?
Iva Jovic reveals her three main goals for the 2026 season
Playing Sabalenka is far from the only thing that Jovic is hoping to achieve next year, and she has revealed her three goals for the 2026 season.
Jovic explained that she is hoping to be seeded for the Australian Open next year, win more WTA titles and obtain her first wins over top 10 players.
“I would love to get myself in a seeded position for AO, so that’s kind of the first one that I’m looking at, because I’m definitely close to that, a couple more pushes,” said Jovic. “Definitely getting titles next year, I think it’s a lot about getting titles at that WTA level, the 250’s, 500’s, Masters. Having some top 10 wins, that’s a big one for me next year.
“So those are the things I have in mind so far, but there’s still some more thinking to do after this tournament in the pre-season.”
The highest ranked player Jovic beat this year was Linda Noskova, who was the world number 23 when she beat her at the Cincinnati Open.
Jovic is currently the world number 35, meaning that she is just three ranking places outside the seeded spots for the Australian Open.
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