India, Jan. 31 -- When Aryna Sabalenka is really deeply contemplating her Australian Open final rematch with Elena Rybakina, it won't be that breakthrough success in 2023 that she'll be dialing in on. It won't be the other three Grand Slam finals she's won, either, including the most recent at the US Open. Top-ranked Sabalenka will be trying to derive more motivation from the five finals she lost in 2025.

"I actually know what was wrong in all of those finals that I played and I lost," Sabalenka said. "I would say that last year was lots of lessons, lots of things to learn about myself, and definitely not going to happen again this season." The list of finals losses included the WTA Finals decider in November when she lost in three sets ...