Aryna Sabalenka has enjoyed a stunning career on the WTA Tour, with her success having continued in 2025.
Sabalenka secured four titles in the latest season on the WTA Tour, and in doing so took her career tally to 21.
The four-time Grand Slam champion is also the year-end number one, winning 63 of her 75 matches in 2025.
She is currently enjoying time off after such a busy and demanding season, although she will participate in a handful of exhibition matches before the year ends.
Sabalenka’s Grand Slam wins are her favorite achievement in her career, with those singles titles having arrived after two doubles titles.
When Aryna Sabalenka lost on her WTA main draw debut in Dubai
Intriguingly, however, it wasn’t immediate success for the Belarusian, who lost on her WTA main draw debut.
Sabalenka debuted at the 2017 Dubai Tennis Championships, where the qualifier was drawn against Kateryna Bondarenko, whose surname is now Volodko.
And it was Volodko who emerged victorious from the round one clash, with the Ukrainian coming from behind to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
She defeated Garbine Muguruza in the next round before losing to Caroline Wozniacki, who went on to lose the final to Elina Svitolina.
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It’s fair to say that Sabalenka has fully recovered following that defeat, from which she will have likely learned an awful lot.
Her opponent Volodko, who is now 39, has two WTA singles titles to her name, and once reached 29th in the world rankings.
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In doubles, however, she reached world number nine and claimed four titles, including a Grand Slam success.
Playing alongside her sister Alona Bondarenko, Volodko overcame Victoria Azarenka and Shahar Pe’er at the 2008 Australian Open.
The Ukrainian veteran also represented her nation at the Olympics and the Fed Cup, now called the Billie Jean King Cup.
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