"Caused pain." Rybakina hurt the world’s top-ranked player twice.

The Belarusian website reported on the year's results for the world's top-ranked player, as stated by Sport5.by. The publication recalled how Sabalenka lost twice this season to Kazakhstan's top player (No. 6).

Arina Sabalenka from Vesti.kz Elena Rybakina

"Of course, the biggest concerns for her in 2024 were a shoulder injury and personal troubles over the summer, which forced her to miss the Olympics and nearly the entire grass season. Additionally, there were some significant defeats.

Sabalenka suffered two losses in finals against the second-ranked player and main rival Iga Swiatek in tournaments in Madrid and Rome. Moreover, Elena Rybakina from Kazakhstan dealt Sabalenka painful losses in the decisive matches in Brisbane in January and recently in the semifinals of the 2024 Finals," the website writes.

This year, the rivals faced each other three times, with Rybakina winning two of those matches. The Kazakh player triumphed in the Brisbane tournament final (Australia) with a score of 6:0, 6:3 and in the recent Finals in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) with scores of 6:4, 3:6, 6:1.

Only in the semifinal of the Madrid tournament did Sabalenka emerge victorious - 1:6, 7:5, 7:6(5).