At 26, Aryna Sabalenka has accomplished a lot already, earning three Major titles to her credit. Not to mention the World No.1 position she took last year, owing to a dominant season with a singles record of 56-14. While her dream of clinching a third successive Australian Open title may have broken this month, the Belarusian is still strong. In the final at Rod Laver Arena, America’s Madison Keys beat her 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 to win her maiden Slam. But Sabalenka is not one to mourn her losses. She keeps looking forward to succeeding in life. And that’s something she believes aspiring tennis players should also do. In fact, she’s got a key piece of advice for them. But what is it?

After a week of her heartbreaking defeat down under, Sabalenka sat down with Flaunt Magazine to talk about different aspects of her career. As the Belarusian was reflecting on her professional journey, she was also asked to give any advice to future tennis stars. While she didn’t have a long speech to share, the two-time AO queen did reveal one single tip for the aspiring players. Being someone who heavily relies on self-belief, she said, “Always listen to yourself.”

She said, “I think people who reach the top of their game, they’re hard workers and they sacrifice a lot to their dreams.” Keeping that into consideration, she added, “That’s my lesson: just never listen.” What the World No.1 implied was that one should never pay heed to outside noises and unwanted suggestions. The only voice they should give attention to is their own.

Sabalenka managed to reach her third straight title clash in this season’s first Major. She was the champion in 2023 and 2024 already and was on the verge of repeating a 26-year-old record by Martina Hingis. The latter succeeded in winning back-to-back three AO titles from 1997 to 1999. Sadly, after battling Keys for over two hours in the final, the Tiger couldn’t replicate Hingis’ milestone. However, she’s not going to let the defeat deter her path going forward this year. She made it evident while reacting to the loss.

Aryna Sabalenka is optimistic for a great 2025 season after Australian Open heartbreak

In a post-match conference, Aryna Sabalenka shared her feelings after failing to outperform her opponent. For the unversed, she was on a 20-match winning streak at the Australian Open, since 2023, going into the final. But Keys broke her momentum that day. Reflecting on the same, Sabalenka said, “When you’re out there, you’re fighting, but it seems like everything is going not the way you really want it to go.”

However, she didn’t let her own confidence go down despite not winning a fourth overall Slam. Having a positive approach, she said, “It’s OK. I mean, I’m the one who knows that after tough losses, there is good wins. So I’ll keep working and make sure that next time, if I’ll be in this situation, I’ll play definitely better.”

While hoping to do better in 2025 going forward, she added, “I have to be anyway proud of myself with the finals, three finals in the row. That’s something crazy. I hope that next year I’ll come back as a better player.”

Additionally, she also praised her opponent’s performance in the title clash. Recalling the moment from the presentation ceremony where she was standing near Keys, but as a runner-up this time, Sabalenka said, That’s definitely really tough. I was standing there and just was like, ‘OK, c’mon, you’ve been in her position. She deserves that. She was the better player than you.’” What are your thoughts on Sabalenka’s run-down under? Also, do you think she can bounce back this season? Let us know in the comments below.