Australian Open 2025: Aryna Sabalenka’s power play
The world’s No.1 brought out the big guns as she wiped a former Grand Slam champion off Rod Laver Arena.
Snarling. Scowling. Prowling. The Belarusian force of nature named Aryna Sabalenka wiped Rod Laver Arena with Sloane Stephens as the two-time defending champion emphatically proved she’s the woman to beat at the Australian Open. I doubt a herd of wild horses could stop her.
“My biggest weapon? I don’t know. I think probably my power,” Sabalenka said upon arrival at Melbourne Park. “Power and the way I’m fighting. Probably that I never give up. You always have to finish the match. But the main one is probably power and fighting spirit. I would say I’ll leave it like that.”
Wasn’t much of a fight. Stephens is an ex-US Open champion and this could’ve been a major semi-final. Out they came on opening night. The outside courts were so drenched only Ariarne Titmus and Jess Fox, the Olympic champions floating around for a TV broadcaster, liked the look of so much water. Sabalenka and Stephens had the privilege of a match in the big house of Rod Laver Arena. The Sabalenkas of this world never get washed out and she won 6-3 6-2.
She’s said she wouldn’t swap her life with anyone in the big, wide, beautiful world. Not Beyonce, not Oprah, not Tony Robbins, not Bernie Tomic. No-one. That’s the spirit. She enjoys her elevation to the world No.1 ranking because she wants all the little darlings of the WTA Tour to come after her.
She hits bigger, grunts louder, shows more emotion than any of them. It might take two of her challengers to take her down. Give it your best shot.
“It drives me and helps me to stay motivated because I know that I have a target on my back,” she says. “I really like to have it. That’s why I work really hard, to make sure that nobody can get to me.”
With a laugh in her pre-tournament press conference, Sabalenka said: “Oh, my God, it sounds too cocky, doesn’t it?”
Power and a fighting spirit. Takes some beating. You were tempted to give Stephens a consolation hug. Sabalenka can join the dream and esteemed quartet of Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Evonne Goolagong and Martina Hingis as the only three-peat women’s champions of the open era. She was a boss against Stephens, owning the back-court, owning the forecourt, owning the stadium so forcefully she might take Rod Laver’s name off the entrance and replace it with her own.
She started fast and got faster. Four-love up while we still getting comfortable in our uncomfortable plastic seats. She’s another Serena Williams in how she loves being the hunted. Whatever a foe throws at her, she’ll hurl more back. She’s a fan of UFC and I’m not surprised, and somehow her grunting isn’t grating, unlike like the desperate shrieks of Maria Sharapova.
Sabalenka competes with so much passion it’s a wonder she has the energy to hit the ball. And yet there’s something wonderfully sincere and endearing about her thunderous ululating. Every point has the future of the human race riding on it. Good start here for the most emotional tennis player of all. In the front row, Rebel Wilson gave a yell.
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