WATCH: Aryna Sabalenka Furiously Destroys Her Racket After Losing Australian Open Final
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Aryna Sabalenka was extremely disappointed after losing in the final of the 2025 Australian Open, destroying her racket afterward.
The WTA World No. 1 player has only the highest expectations of herself, and she certainly did also ahead of this year's Australian Open. She crushed all of her opponents on her way to the final before taking on Madison Keys.
Although Keys had a great tournament herself, Sabalenka certainly fancied her chances against the 19th seed. However, Keys played an unbelievable match to win her first Grand Slam title, upsetting Sabalenka.
The Belarusian player was naturally disappointed after losing the final. Up until the last game of the final match, both players held their serve in the third set without facing a break point.
But 5-6 down in the third set, Sabalenka couldn't deal with the pressure, and she fell behind 15-40. Although she saved the first match point, Keys used the second one, and she could start her celebrations.
Sabalenka, on the other hand, was very disappointed and angry, venting towards her team right after the match. Like the good sportswoman that she is, the two-time Australian Open champion managed to switch and hugged her opponent at the net, congratulating her on her great success.
But immediately after, as Keys started celebrating, Sabalenka completely destroyed her racket and threw it onto her bench. Then, she put a towel over her head, and it was clear how frustrated she was. The video of these moments can be seen below.
After the match, Sabalenka was asked about these moments. She admitted that destroying her racket helped her to vent and deliver a respectful speech later on.
"I just needed to throw those negative emotions at the end just so I could give a speech, not stay there being disrespectful. I was just trying to let it go and be a good person, be respectful. But it's okay, I'm the one who knows that after though losses there are good win."
Although she was frustrated right after losing the match, a few moments later, Sabalenka could already identify some positives. At the end of the day, she won 20 consecutive matches in Melbourne, which is a great achievement.
"I'm just trying to stay positive right now, find something good (smiling), but that's crazy. I couldn't even dream, couldn't even think about that, like, few years ago that l'd be able to win that many matches in the row at one slam."
"There is definitely something to be proud of and something I definitely have to improve and be better at. It's always a process of these things to be proud and then to improve some stuff, which didn't work well."
Sabalenka will now take some time off and likely return to the tennis courts on February 9th for the 2025 Qatar Open in Doha. After that, she and the rest of the field will move to Dubai for another WTA 1000 tournament.
