As soon as it came down to a third set tiebreaker in the epic match between World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and Emma Raducanu, I suspected that Raducanu was toast. Sabalenka has only lost one tiebreaker in 2025, and she won the first set tiebreaker with ease. Her current winning streak is 16 straight tiebreak wins.
That moment when Aryna Sabalenka won an EPIC against Emma Raducanu with an ace ❤️🔥 #CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/YuJh29bWE0
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) August 11, 2025
Sabalenka plays her best tennis in tiebreakers. She either winds up the big serve or finds a way to land a big shot just within the lines. Sabalenka earns her World No. 1 status in these match-deciding moments.
16 straight tiebreak wins for Sabalenka is unreal.
I think she just likes to give people a chance to get great live numbers on her 🤣
Truly insane streak in tiebreaks 🤯 pic.twitter.com/ds1kGOfQug
— JCashIt (@WTAGodfather) August 11, 2025
Emma Raducanu tested her mightily in their three hour match. That’s what is new about WTA players facing Sabalenka; they are no longer being blown off the court by her power. She is getting pushed around, and if I am brutally honest, she is not looking like the light-hearted player she once was.
Maybe she always had emotional ups and downs in her matches, but she was covering them up. The mask has been off lately, and I don’t know what to make of it.
Aryna Sabalenka Is Coming Off A 4 Week Vacation
Sabalenka was on a four week vacation where she admitted to barely working out and just decompressing and enjoying life. Given the excruciatingly long tennis season, this sounds like a great idea.
However, in her first match back against Marketa Vondrouosva, she showed negative body language while in the lead.
SABALENKA is one very unserious woman 😭😭😭😭 why is she mumbling against towards her team after winning 1st set krkrkrkr pic.twitter.com/HMeSRvu8lY
— Liviefromparis 🇫🇷🤸🏼♀️🎾 (@Livieparis2024) August 10, 2025
Sabalenka is the defending Cincinnati Open and US Open champion; perhaps she is feeling pressure to defend those titles and it is manifesting in her on-court behavior.
Aryna Sabalenka has not looked happy from the very start. She’s been irritated and visibly frustrated even when she was in a winning position. #CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/EP4KnsiIYN
— islandtennisgirl (@islandtennisace) August 11, 2025
I realize that I will never walk in Aryna Sabalenka’s shoes and understand the pressure she is under as the World No. 1 WTA player whom everyone is playing her best tennis against to try to upset her.
It is probably healthier for her to let the emotions out instead of bottling them up, but I liked the poker-faced easy-breezy Saby that graced the courts in 2023 and 2024.
