A wounded ‘Tigress’ is a dangerous beast! Aryna Sabalenka was aiming to become just the sixth woman and the first since Martina Hingis in 1999 to clinch the AO title in three consecutive years. However, her dream was shattered by America’s Madison Keys in the epic 2025 AO final! Aryna Sabalenka couldn’t hide her disappointment after that loss and she was seen smashing her racket and covering her head with a towel before walking off the court. But Sabalenka is keen to make a quick turnaround in the upcoming events. Can she make a strong comeback? Serena Williams‘ childhood coach believes so.

Soon after going down to Keys in that epic final, Aryna Sabalenka portrayed her disappointment, saying, “I think when you get to the point of finals, it’s trophy or nothing. Nobody remembers the finalist, you know? Nobody put, like, next to the winner (the) finalist name.” A clear frustration reflected on her face but she didn’t forget to mention, “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.”

Madison Keys ended Aryna Sabalenka’s 20-matches winning streak in Melbourne. However, the Belarusian now has a chance to clinch a few more wins in her next few matches as she’s all set to start her campaign at the 2025 Qatar Open. Rick Macci was recently spotted issuing a stern warning to Sabalenka’s fellow peers on what may come up next in the next few months. He tweeted, “Sabalenka will become Mentally Stronger after losing to Keys.“

Not only that, Serena Williams’ childhood coach, further added, “She has the best flat out pure raw firepower on tour, and now her mindset will elevate to another level of determination and many Grand Slams will be her destination @SabalenkaA.” However, this isn’t the first time that we’ve seen Macci heaping praise on the Belarusian.

In 2023, during an interview, Rick Macci was spotted drawing a parallel between Aryna Sabalenka and a French tennis legend. He said, “Really love her (Sabalenka’s) game. She has tremendous firepower and she pulls a trigger all the time. it’s straightforward she reminds me a lot of Mary Pierce…She has got a lot of firepower…Okay, she’s going to be on the hunt for a long long time.“

Even in December 2024, Macci expressed his admiration for Aryna Sabalenka. In one of his tweets, the American wrote, “If Sabalenka mentally stays locked loaded and ready to launch every point she could dominate. She has the most explosive and complete firepower on the 3 big ticket items forehand backhand and Serve.” At that time, he also mentioned that the real test for Aryna Sabalenka would now be to control her match temperament. Can Sabalenka overcome her AO disappointment by clinching a title at the 2025 Qatar Open? Time will tell, but the path to glory will be full of hurdles.

The road to Aryna Sabalenka’s second Qatar Open title

Sabalenka is all set to start her campaign at the first WTA 1000 events this week. She recently hit the courts at the Qatar Open with her sister Tonechka by her side. the Belarusian looked to be in a good mode in Doha and was seen playfully joking about “putting” her sister to work before conceding that she was “taking” her along on her trip to Qatar. She won the tournament in 2020 and reached the QF in 2022 but Sabalenka didn’t participate in this tournament in the previous two editions.

Does she have a chance of clinching the title yet again after almost 5 years? Well, if we take a glimpse at her path to the title triumph in Doha, she has received an opening-round bye here. However, Sabalenka may face either Emma Raducanu or Ekaterina Alexandrova in the second round. If she wins that match, Anna Kalinskaya will be her probable opponent in the third round. But there’s the rub: Sabalenka has a high chance of facing America’s Jessica Pegula in the QF.

After the QF, her two of the biggest hurdles will probably be Coco Gauff (SF) and Iga Swiatek (Final). Swiatek is arguably the biggest contender for the title this time, having triumphed in Doha for the past three years. The World No. 1 will have a serious chance to increase the lead from Iga Swiatek and others in this tournament. Having lost 700 ranking points following her final defeat at the AO, she now holds 8956 points – just 186 ahead of the Pole. The stage is already set for a thrilling contest in Doha. Can these two nail down their opponents to finally cross paths in an epic final?