Serena Williams’ former coach sends a warning to Aryna Sabalenka’s rivals ahead of her Qatar Open campaign
The WTA Tour has been warned by Serena Williams’ former coach that Aryna Sabalenka will be out for revenge at the Qatar Open.
The World number one has not played since she was beaten by Madison Keys in a thrilling Australian Open final.
This was her first defeat at Melbourne Park since 2022 and Sabalenka reacted by smashing her racket and storming to the locker room, before returning shortly after.
But the Belarusian is now preparing for a return to action, and she will be determined to quickly return to winning ways.
Serena Williams’ former coach has warning for WTA Tour about Aryna Sabalenka
Sabalenka’s dominance in Australia came to an end courtesy of Keys, the World number seven.
The 29-year-old produced the finest performance of her career to win her very first first Grand Slam title.
Sabalenka was attempting to win the Australian Open for the third successive year, something no woman has accomplished since Martina Hingis in 1999.
Having fallen short in quest for history and losing her first match of 2025, Serena Williams’ former coach Rick Macci thinks the crushing defeat is only going to make Sabalenka stronger, which is a worrying sign for her rivals.
“Sabalenka will become mentally stronger after losing to Keys,” the 70-year-old wrote on social media platform X.
“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.”
Aryna Sabalenka will be out for revenge at the Qatar Open
Sabalenka is set to step back on court at the Qatar Open, the first WTA 1000 event of the year, which will commence on February 9.
The 27-year-old will be playing in Qatar for the first time since 2022 and is part of a strong field that includes the World number two and three, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff.
Sabalenka will commence her campaign against either wildcard Emma Raducanu or newly-crowned Linz winner Ekaterina Alexandrova.
He won her only prior meeting with Raducanu at the 2024 Indian Wells Masters which she won in straight sets, and her rivalry with Alexandrova is an interesting one.
Sabalenka has won four of her seven matches against Alexandrova with the most recent meeting coming during Sabalenka’s 2024 US Open title run.
The Russian was the only player to take a set off Sabalenka in New York last season, and she will be up for the challenge once again should she defeat Raducanu in Qatar.
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