Aryna Sabalenka Avoids Shock Loss Against Qualifier To Win First Title Of 2025
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Aryna Sabalenka's final match at the 2025 Brisbane International was not smooth sailing, but she still ended with the trophy in her hands.
The WTA World No. 1 player entered the first WTA 500 event of the season as the big favorite to win the title. Without the defending champion Elena Rybakina, who beat her in the final last year in the draw, the Belarusian's chances to win the title significantly increased.
The second highest-ranked player in the draw was Emma Navarro, who lost already in her first match, as did the fourth-seeded Paula Badosa, No. 5 seed Diana Shnaider, as well as sixth-seeded Anna Kalinskaya, and No. 7 seed Jelena Ostapenko.
It wasn't a good tournament for the seeded players, and with so many surprises, the draw opened up for other players. One player who used that to her advantage was qualifier Polina Kudermetova, ranked 107th ahead of the event.
Kudermetova had to play in the qualifying, winning two matches to reach the main draw, before beating Xinyu Wang, Liudmila Samsonova, Daria Kasatkina, Ashlyn Krueger, and Anhelina Kalinina to reach her maiden WTA 500 final.
On the other hand, Sabalenka recorded easy wins over Renata Zarazua, Yulia Putintseva, Marie Bouzkova, and she bested even 17-year-old prodigy Mirra Andreeva, who later claimed the doubles title in Brisbane.
Given the huge ranking disparity, many fans expected a quick final in Brisbane, and early on, it looked like that would happen. The Belarusian player broke first, leading already 3-1, when she had two more break points to break again and lead 4-1.
However, Kudermetova showed why she managed to reach the final. She saved both break points, and in the following game, she managed to erase her opponent's 40-15 lead, winning nine points in a row to lead 4-3 in the opening set.
Surprisingly, the Russian player managed to break the World No. 1's serve once again in the first set, and it came when Sabalenka was serving to stay in the set, which meant she couldn't respond to it, losing the first set of the match 4-6.
Kudermetova started by saving two more break points at the start of the second set, and she even had a chance to go into a 3-1 lead, but she couldn't convert. That one unused break point certainly haunted her moments later when she was broken.
Sabalenka significantly increased her level, and she was able to win the second set relatively easily, 6-3, to force the deciding set in the 2025 Brisbane International final.
Fans certainly got the show they wanted, but Sabalenka, obviously, wanted to make that show as short as possible. She had a ruthless start into the third set, winning 14 of the first 16 points, leading 3-0 and 30-0.
Although she didn't initially manage to add to her first break in the set, she did it later, breaking for a 5-1 lead and serving for the match. Sabalenka couldn't serve out the set, as Kudermetova broke back, but she couldn't hold her serve either.
That meant Sabalenka broke again to win the third set and the match 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, to win the 2025 Brisbane International, claiming her first title of the new season.
