Sabalenka won two Grand Slam titles, to add to her trophy at the Australian Open in 2023.

The Belarussian defended her Australian Open title, before Sabalenka won the US Open, beating Jessica Pegula in the final.

Performances that saw Sabalenka take the world number one ranking from her rival Iga Swiatek, who herself won a Major title at the French Open in 2024.

It was a fantastic year, and one that shouldn’t have come as a surprise to avid viewers of women’s tennis, but things looked very different just a few short years ago.

Storm Hunter says the WTA Tour ‘felt sorry’ for Aryna Sabalenka in 2022

In January 2022, Sabalenka was preparing for the Australian Open, where she was set to be the number two seed when she suddenly encountered a huge problem.

Playing in a warm-up event in Adelaide, Sabalenka lost to world number 100 Kaja Juvan, hitting a dismal 18 double faults as she lost in the first round.

Things got even worse for the 26-year-old in the second Adelaide tournament as she hit 21 double faults in defeat to world number 93 Rebecca Peterson.

Her serve had deserted her, and things were looking critical for the Australian Open, where she was set to come up against doubles specialist Storm Hunter in the first round.

Speaking to ausopen.com, Hunter recalled what she and the rest of the WTA Tour were thinking as they watched Sabalenka’s serve unravel.

“Everyone knows the serve is her strength, or should be her strength,” she said.

“It was actually really hard watching that, a lot of us were, to be honest, feeling sorry for her, because no one wants to be in that position.”

Hunter may have felt sorry for Sabalenka but certainly wasn’t taking anything for granted ahead of their opening round match in Melbourne.

“I don’t care whether she has yips or not, she’s No.2 in the world,” she said.

“There was never a conversation in my team of like ‘oh, once she starts double faulting, you’re going to get this.’

“We respected her, her game, and her serve, we couldn’t take that for granted.”

Despite leading 7-5, 3-1, Hunter still had a feeling that the Belarussian was going to turn things around.

“She didn’t give anything away mentally,” she said.

“I looked down the other end, and it seemed she was as composed as she could be, she wasn’t breaking down like she was in Adelaide. 

“I just felt like she was going to find a way, she’s a competitor.”

Sabalenka eventually powered through in three sets, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, as she booked her place in the second round, only double faulting 12 times.

She eventually lost in the fourth round as her shaky serve caught up to her, but worked hard to improve on her biggest weapon ahead of the 2023 tournament.

Can Aryna Sabalenka win her third consecutive Australian Open title?

Sabalenka may have struggled down under in 2022, but things have gone swimmingly ever since, as she took home the last two Australian Open titles.

Sabalenka has now dropped just one set in her past 14 matches in Melbourne as she heads into the 2025 tournament as a hot favorite.

She will, of course, face some tough opposition from the likes of Swiatek, Coco Gauff, and Qinwen Zheng in Australia but would be expected to come through against all of the above.

It’s not often that we see players on the WTA Tour defend a Grand Slam title, let alone win one three years running, in fact only Swiatek, Serena Williams, and Justine Henin have done so this century.

A big challenge, but one that Sabalenka will no doubt be up for as she heads to the Australian Open which begins on January 12.

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