Aryna Sabalenka posted a 94.7 percent win rate at the Grand Slam level this year and that makes it the best win rate since the one Serena Williams had in 2015.

This year, the Belarusian tennis star had her best season Slam-wise, having landed two Majors. At the start of the year, the 26-year-old defended her Australian Open title in style after not dropping a single set in seven matches played at Melbourne Park.

Four months later, Sabalenka also made a promising start to her French Open run, winning her opening four matches in straight sets to improve to 11-0 in Grand Slams in 2024. But then, the world No. 1 suffered her first Slam loss of the year after rising star Mirra Andreeva upset her 6-7 (5) 6-4 6-4. However, it should be noted that the 26-year-old received treatment during that match and later revealed that she was battling a stomach bug.

Going into Wimbledon, Sabalenka had a 11-1 record on the Slam stage and was set to be one of the top favorites for the title. Sadly, she sustained an unfortunate shoulder injury at the start of the grass season and wasn’t able to compete at The Championships.

When the time came for the US Open, the Belarusian was again healthy and in great form and it resulted in her winning it all at Flushing Meadows with just one lost set during the fortnight. She ended her Grand Slam year with an 18-1 record.

Nine years ago, Williams also had a season during which she only lost one Major match – that year, she won the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon before losing in the US Open semifinal. She posted a 26-1 Slam record that year and had a 96.2 percent win rate.

Sabalenka was determined to show everyone that her first Slam wasn’t a fluke

After struggling for years to become a Grand Slam champion, the Belarusian finally made her big breakthrough at the 2023 Australian Open after coming back from a set down to beat Elena Rybakina in the final. In the rest of 2023, she had three more deep runs on that level but didn’t win any titles after losing to Coco Gauff in the US Open final and also exiting the French Open and Wimbledon in the semifinal.

Entering 2024, Sabalenka was on a mission – she wanted to get that second Major and don’t leave the room for anyone to label her “a one-Slam wonder.” And in Melbourne, she was absolutely impressive as she clinched several very dominant wins and didn’t allow anyone to come even near beating her.

“Yeah, actually it’s been in my mind that I didn’t want to be that player who win it and then disappeared. I just wanted to show that I’m able to be consistently there and I’m able to win another one. I really hope that more, more than two right now, but for me was really important,” she said after sealing back-to-back US Open titles.

After ousting Zheng Qinwen 6-3 6-2 in the Australian Open, Sabalenka had it way tougher in the US Open final but still managed to overcome home favorite Jessica Pegula 7-5 7-5. But there was one reason why she felt so tense – a year earlier – the Belarusian was up by a set over Coco Gauff in the final at Flushing Meadows before collapsing and losing in three.

“I would definitely say that this is, like, it was the best moment, one of the best moments. Like, so many things was going through my mind. The first one was that, all those tough losses in the past, and I was just, like, so proud of myself and proud of my team that no matter what, we were able to come back stronger and come back with the better tennis,” Sabalenka admitted following her win.

Before winning her first Slam, the world No. 1 lost three Major semifinals. Those losses very extremely painful but she learned lessons from them and got the valuable experience.

“Well, I think it’s all come with experience, as I said. There is not going to be big wins without really tough losses. Of course I was very down after those matches. I was crying, I was smashing the racquet, as we see. I was really crazy. But then, like, later on after day or two, we sit down with the team, thinking, okay, what we have to do to fix it and to make sure this will never happen again. So it’s always a process, and as they say, you just to enjoy the process and trust the process and believe that next time you’ll do better,” Sabalenka noted.