Sabalenka reaches 12,000 ranking points despite Grand Slam disappointments – first since Serena Williams

Aryna Sabalenka has had a difficult year so far. That is a difficult thing to say, considering that she has only lost nine out of 56 matches. Sabalenka has featured in 12 events in 2025 and played in the semifinals or final on nine occasions.

However, she ended up lifting just three of them. In the three Grand Slams, Sabalenka has lost twice in the finals and once in the semifinals. At the Australian Open, Sabalenka lost to America’s Madison Keys with a score of 6-3, 2-6, 7-5. At the French Open, Sabalenka came second-best against Coco Gauff, who emerged victorious with a score of 6-7, 2-6, 6-4. Her most recent outing was at Wimbledon where her journey ended in the semifinals after losing to America’s Amanda Anisimova with a score 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

Despite suffering heartbreak on many occasions, Sabalenka has achieved a remarkable feat, something that no woman has accomplished in nearly 10 years. Sabalenka became the first women’s tennis player to reach more than 12,000 rating points since Serena Williams did back in 2015.

After losing in the Wimbledon semifinals, Sabalenka admitted that it was not easy to come on the wrong side of the results so many times. Sabalenka also stated that her opponent on that day ‘pissed’ her off by ‘celebrating’ too early.

“Losing sucks, you know?” she said. “You always feel like you want to die, you don’t want to exist any more, and this is the end of your life. Every time you compete at that tournament, and you get to the last stages, you think that you’re getting close to your dream. Then you lose the match, and you feel like, OK, this is the end. She was already celebrating it. I was, like, that’s a bit too early. Then she pissed me off saying that’s what she does all the time. I was grateful she actually said that because it’s actually helping me to keep fighting. So I came back because I got really angry in that moment.”