Has Sabalenka Solved the Final Puzzle?

Aryna Sabalenka continues to run the table as the WTA’s No. 1 player and its most consistent force. After a brilliant month of March, which saw the 27-year-old become just the fifth player in history to claim the coveted Sunshine Double, Sabalenka has also proven that she can deliver in finals.

If there was one thing that had plagued Sabalenka in recent years, it was a tendency to lose close matches in big finals. Before facing Elena Rybakina in the Indian Wells final, her record stood at 22-20 in career finals.

She had also lost three of her previous four finals, each as the World No. 1 and top seed.

It was becoming a narrative—and one she addressed head-on ahead of Indian Wells when asked if she needed to start converting more of her biggest opportunities.

“I’m so done losing these big finals,” she said. “It felt like… I had so many opportunities that I didn’t use. And right now my mentality… if I make it to the final, I’ll go out there and do everything I can to get that trophy.”

Two and a half weeks later, it appears something may have shifted.

Sabalenka demonstrated grit and self-belief by saving a championship point against Rybakina to claim the title in the California desert. In Miami, when faced with a late surge from Coco Gauff and a bellowing, pro-Gauff crowd, she again showed poise to close out another title.

How did she do it?

“Trying to bring this tough mentality… I’ll be fighting for every point,” she said.

“That’s been working really well… in the last couple of finals, I’ve just been really strong inside and really positive mentally.”

She was more than strong enough, and this new level of effectiveness in the biggest matches raises an intriguing question: can Sabalenka now begin to stack major titles at a faster rate?

Having held the No. 1 ranking for 75 weeks and won four of the last 13 majors, winning a larger percentage of major finals is the only separating her current level of greatness from otherworldly.

She was asked about the challenge of staying motivated after winning her 24th title, and 11th at the 1000 level, on Saturday. Her answer was exactly what we expected. 

“I’m not even close to the legends,” she said. “ “I’m just trying to go as far as possible in this sport and to inspire the next generation and to be a good example.” 

Stay tuned.