Aryna Sabalenka
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Aryna Siarhiejeŭna Sabalenka (born 5 May 1998) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. She is the current world No. 1 in women's singles by the WTA and is a former No. 1 in doubles. Sabalenka has won 24 WTA Tour-level singles titles, including four majors – two each at the Australian Open and the US Open – as well as 11 WTA 1000 events. She has also won six doubles titles, including the 2019 US Open and 2021 Australian Open, both with Elise Mertens. Sabalenka came to prominence in 2017 when, together with Aliaksandra Sasnovich, they led the Belarus Fed Cup team to a runner-up finish even though both were ranked outside the top 75 at the time. She finished 2018 and 2019 ranked world No. 11 in singles. Following two major singles semifinal appearances in 2021, Sabalenka rose to world No. 2 but struggled to maintain that success in 2022 consistently. In 2023, she won her first major singles title at the Australian Open, finished runner-up at the US Open, and obtained the world No. 1 ranking for the first time. In 2024, Sabalenka defended her Australian Open title and won a third major singles title at the US Open, finishing as the year-end No. 1 for the first time. In 2025, she defended her title at the US Open and was runner-up at the Australian and French Opens, holding the No. 1 position for the entire season. In 2026, she reached an eighth major singles final at the Australian Open and completed the Sunshine Double (winning Indian Wells and Miami back-to-back). Also in 2026, Sabalenka won the Laureus World Sports Award for Sportswoman of the Year.
Sabalenka began playing doubles regularly in 2019. With Mertens as her partner, she found instant success by winning the Sunshine Double (Indian Wells and Miami) that same year. They won the US Open later in the season, and Sabalenka qualified for the WTA Finals for the first time. After she and Mertens won their second major title at the Australian Open in 2021, Sabalenka became the world No. 1 in the discipline, after which she shifted to playing exclusively singles.