An hour after another excruciating loss in a significant final, Aryna Sabalenka was asked about her record in grand slam finals. She responded by lamenting the fact that she had lost the majority of those she had played. She was mistaken. Her bitter defeat by Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open final on Saturday left her with a 4-4 record in major finals, a poor but not ruinous record. However, considering how many great opportunities she has let pass her by over the past few years, it made perfect sense that, in Sabalenka’s mind, she is already a dozen defeats down.

The Belarusian continues to compile a fascinating career. So few players in the history of the sport have put themselves in position to compete for the biggest titles as frequently as Sabalenka. She has reached five of the past six grand slam finals and eight overall. In her past 13 grand slam tournaments, she has reached 12 semi-finals. The only time she failed to make the final two rounds of a slam was when she was dragged down by food poisoning in the quarter-finals of the 2024 French Open. Still, she took Mirra Andreeva to three sets.

This is a remarkable level of consistency, a reflection of her overall mental toughness and her ability to handle the pressure that accompanies the early rounds of grand slam tournaments. For 90% of the time Sabalenka looks by far the toughest and most formidable player in the world. However, her mental strength in so many different scenarios has repeatedly been counterbalanced by her inability to keep her head in the big finals. Once a major is in touching distance, Sabalenka is just as likely to lose her head as she is to thrive.

A significant amount of effort has already gone into addressing these problems. Sabalenka has worked with a sports psychologist in the past. She has been refreshingly frank about her mental deficiencies and how she becomes so unsettled in the most important moments. She knows as well as anyone that her wavering performances in finals are all about pressure, nerves and being able to think clearly enough to problem-solve when a major is up for grabs.

Compared to some of her previous losses, such as her defeat to Coco Gauff in last year’s French Open final, Sabalenka’s setback on Sunday was not a catastrophe. Rybakina is the player of the moment and one of the few competitors who can outserve and overpower the 27-year-old, as she did in the key moments. However, losing five games in a row in the third set of a grand slam final from 3-0 up is unacceptable for the best player in the world. After brilliantly maintaining her composure to turn around a slow start, she became visibly agitated at the most important period in the match. Once again, she paid dearly for it.

Sabalenka will leave Melbourne at an important crossroads in her career. Her achievements are already incredible. She is a four-time grand slam champion, she has been No 1 for 75 weeks and has won 22 titles. She is still the main character of women’s tennis right now, and one of the best players of her generation.

However, considering how many opportunities she is giving herself to win these majors, Sabalenka has a realistic chance to establish herself as a legend of the game if she can just overcome her fear in the decisive moments of the grand slams. Although she continues to provide herself with opportunities each tournament, this run will not last for ever. At 27, Sabalenka is at her physical peak and her game is as complete as it has ever been, meaning the pressure is on for her to understand how she can better handle these moments.

Towards the end of a painful post-match dissection, after addressing her crushing defeat with both dark humour and frank honesty, Sabalenka took a deep breath and cast her mind ahead. “Ambitions are still the same,” she said. “Keep fighting, keep working hard, keep putting myself out there, and try my best if I’ll have another chance in the final. Just go out there and do my best. Then just try the same, you know? Try to see how many of them I can get.”