‘Aryna Sabalenka is a lot better than Elena Rybakina’ – tennis experts disagree in 2025 WTA predictions
Two-time Grand Slam finalist Alex Corretja has predicted that Elena Rybakina will win the 2025 Australian Open and end the season as the world No 1.
Tennis great Mats Wilander disagrees with the Spaniard, arguing Aryna Sabalenka is “a lot better” than Rybakina.
Sabalenka achieved her first year-end No 1 finish this season after winning four titles in 2024, including the Australian Open and US Open. The 26-year-old Belarusian is a three-time major titlist and the two-time reigning Australian Open champion.
Rybakina is currently ranked fifth after winning three WTA 500 titles and reaching two WTA 1000 finals this year. She played 15 events, but withdrew before and during several tournaments as she struggled with health issues.
The 25-year-old Kazakh, who won her only Grand Slam title to date at Wimbledon in 2022, has hired Goran Ivanisevic as her new coach. Ivanisevic, a former Wimbledon winner and world No 2, enjoyed a hugely successful spell as Novak Djokovic’s coach.
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Iga Swiatek, meanwhile, ended the season as the world No 2 after securing a tour-leading five titles. Her tally included a fourth French Open crown — her fifth major overall. The 23-year-old Pole finished both 2022 and 2023 on top of the WTA Rankings.
Another contender for the No 1 ranking could be 2023 US Open champion Coco Gauff, who is the world No 3. The 20-year-old American won the season-ending WTA Finals in Riyadh.
Eurosport experts Wilander, Corretja, Tim Henman and Laura Robson have each made their predictions ahead of the 2025 WTA season.
Who will win the Australian Open women’s title?
Wilander: Aryna Sabalenka will win yet another Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. That makes it three in a row.
Robson: I’m going Sabalenka.
Henman: The AO on the women’s side is going to be won by Zheng [Qinwen].
Corretja: I’m going to go for Rybakina. I’m actually thinking she might finish as No 1 this year.
Who will finish 2025 as the women’s world No 1?
Wilander: Aryna Sabalenka is a lot better than Elena Rybakina, Alex.
Robson: I think Sabalenka again.
Henman: [Iga] Swiatek is going to finish No 1.
Wilander, Corretja and Robson all backed the Rybakina-Ivanisevic combination to be the most successful coaching team of 2025.
