"I'm upset right now" - Novak Djokovic fuming online after incredible tiebreak record falls to good friend Aryna Sabalenka

Aryna Sabalenka and a tiebreak go together like a house on fire. The world number one has come out on top in an incredible number of them, with her latest success coming against Victoria Mboko at the Australian Open making it 20 tiebreak triumphs on the spin in Grand Slam matches, a new record. This news was met by the previous record holder Novak Djokovic, who went to social media to share his displeasure.

That is now three tiebreaks in four sets spanning over two matches for Sabalenka, who has looked very good so far in her quest for another Australian Open title. One came against Mboko, with the other two coming against Anastasia Potapova in the third round.

These three are just a small sample of the tiebreak success she has had on court in major events. She is now up to 20 in a row, an incredible amount of success from a skilled tennis player. A big factor in this is also mentality and determination to keep her head afloat in what could be overwhelming situations. On the court after her round-of-16 win, she spoke directly on this.

"Now, because you guys keep talking about that, I feel like you guys are putting pressure on my opponents," she joked. "That's what I like about playing tie-breaks nowadays. I don't know, I just go into the tie-breaks, I try not to think that this is a tie-break, play point-by-point, and I guess that's the key to this consistency."

While one new name is at the top of a record, another one drops off it. After the Potapova clash, Sabalenka was tied level with Djokovic's 19 in a row in Grand Slam matches. Now, she stands alone at the top with her friend now lacking behind in second.

Most fans will not expect Djokovic to lose sleep over one of the plethora of records he has got in his time in tennis, among the titles and triumphs also picked up along the way.

However, seemingly based off his reaction on X, he is not overly happy that his good companion rose above him, writing: "I'm upset right now." The joke reaction continues their bubbly relationship with them supporting each other on court and off it, practising together and even going on double dates with their respected partners in the off-season.

20 tiebreaks won on the trot in Grand Slam matches takes us back to to the 2023 French Open where she kept herself within a shot of the final after winning a second set tiebreaker against Karolina Muchova before ultimately losing the final set.

There was more success at the US Open later that year when she used two of them against Madison Keys to reach a second Grand Slam final. After losing to Coco Gauff in said final, she won a fourth tiebreaker in a row to send her enroute to a second Australian Open final, in which she also won.

Half of this tally has come from 2025. It may not be surprising as she made three finals and a semi-final, with this consistency at the end of sets vital. The most significant one was to wrap up the US Open crown against Amanda Anisimova to finally seal a Grand Slam title in 2025, with three coming in each of the events apart from the Australian Open where just one was played out in a third round tie against Clara Tauson. The three played and most importantly won this year takes her up to 20, and a very unique record. If she is going to take back the Australian Open title, she will quite possibly be needing to win some more of these while extending her record in the process. Her quarter-final match will be against the incredibly talented Iva Jovic, with the 18-year-old not dropping a set enroute to this round.