Aryna

Sabalenka started this year bidding to become the first woman since 1999 to win three successive Australian Open titles, but lost to a brilliant Madison Keys. She then let her emotions run riot on and off court in her Roland Garros loss to Gauff.

“You lose the final of the biggest tournament and you don’t think cleanly,” she said.

“I had to sit back and reflect on everything, and make sure that people understand my point – that I was completely wrong.

“It was a tough lesson but it helped me in so many different ways.”

Sabalenka battled her emotions at Wimbledon, most impressively against home favourite Emma Raducanu in the third round. “Maybe earlier in my career, I would just go crazy and lose that set,” she said afterwards.

“I was like, ‘do not waste your energy – keep everything you have left inside’.”

After a semi-final loss where Sabalenka felt she was not as “brave” as opponent Amanda Anisimova, she opted for a holiday. There, Sabalenka thought about why she let her emotions “take control over me in those two finals”.

She made a decision – during her US Open title defence, she, not her emotions, would decide her fate.

Sabalenka made her way through the draw and found herself facing Anisimova in the final, with the American aiming to overcome a brutal Wimbledon final loss. Given the pressure Sabalenka already felt to ensure she didn’t finish the year without a Slam, it was a huge test of her mental strength.

It was, arguably, Sabalenka’s most mature performance of the season. Even a missed overhead as she served for the title was greeted with a wry smile. Sabalenka was broken in that game but put together a dominant tie-break to triumph.

“I knew that [because of] the hard work we put in, I deserved to have a Grand Slam title this season,” Sabalenka added.

“Getting this trophy means I learned a lesson. I became a better player, I have better control over my emotions, and I am super happy.”

There is still work to do, as missing out on the WTA Finals title shows. But Sabalenka was able to shrug the loss off quickly – a positive sign for her after a tricky year.

“After a little time, I feel actually great. The bad thing this season [is] I lost most of the biggest finals I made,” she added.

“So I guess I’ll just sit back in the Maldives having my tequila and think that actually, it’s been pretty good so far.

“I just need to get little bit better with myself and hopefully next season I’ll improve.”

Anisimova went into the match having won six of their previous 10 meetings, though they have met at each of the past three Grand Slams and Sabalenka edged that particular head-to-head two wins to one.

She prevailed in straight sets in the French Open fourth round and the US Open final, while Anisimova was victorious over three sets in their Wimbledon semi-final.

Their semi-final in Riyadh promised much – and delivered.

The first two games took 18 minutes to complete. Anisimova saved three break points to hold in the opener, then Sabalenka fought back from 0-40 down to do likewise.

The match clock had just ticked past an hour when Sabalenka eventually clinched the first set.

Anisimova, who failed to win the opening set in all four of her matches during her WTA Finals debut, responded brilliantly by racing into a 4-0 lead in the second and levelling the contest.

In a tight decider, Sabalenka’s backhand return winner to settle the seventh game sealed a decisive break of serve, and there was a warm embrace between the two players at the net when Anisimova sent a forehand wide on match point.

“I told Amanda that she should be proud of her season – she’s played incredible tennis for the whole season and it’s just the beginning,” said Sabalenka.

“I know she’s probably disappointed but there are many more things coming her way.”