Aryna Sabalenka has dealt with her share of defeat. Harrowing losses, would haves, should haves and could haves. And all of it has made the world No.1 into the clutch performer that she currently is.
Nobody in tennis is perfect under pressure, and it takes two to tango in the sport – sometimes you’re good but not as good as the phenom across the net.
In Sabalenka’s case, we can say with certainty that she’s as good as it gets in one area.
With her 6-1 7-6(1) win over Victoria Mboko on Day 8, Sabalenka set a new record for most consecutive Grand Slam tiebreaks won, with 20. It’s been an incredible streak, that has lasted over two and a half years – she last lost a breaker at the 2023 French Open.
She has broken the record that was previously held by Novak Djokovic, who won 19 consecutive tiebreaks from Wimbledon 2005 to Wimbledon 2007. The Serbian icon also recently won 15 consecutive tiebreaks in a single Grand Slam season, until he was stopped by Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon in 2023.
Sabalenka’s streak, which started during her loss to Karolina Muchova in the Roland-Garros semifinal in 2023, featured a third-set tiebreak win over Madison Keys at the 2024 US Open (she won two in that match) and another that closed last year’s US Open final with Amanda Anisimova. One came during her epic win over Iga Swiatek in last year’s Roland-Garros semifinal. That match snapped the Pole’s 26-match winning streak at the French.
Five have come against Top-10 players.
Where it stops, nobody knows…
