Aryna Sabalenka’s soul-searching goes on after Australian Open final collapse | Tumaini Carayol
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 loss on Saturday 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.
”
Real estate agents in Australia using apps that leave millions of lease documents at risk, digital researcher says
Australian platforms used by real estate agents to upload documentation for renters and landlords are leaving people’s personal information exposed in hyperlinks accessible online.An analysis of seven rent platforms provided to Guardian Australia by a researcher, who wished to remain anonymous, revealed millions of leasing documents could be accessed by threat actors.Sign up: AU Breaking News emailReal estate agents manage sensitive tenant and landlord data on a daily basis, including lease agreements, identification documents, payslips and personal references. Online platforms enable agents to store these documents in the cloud and make them accessible via hyperlinks.The researcher found these links can be scanned by web crawlers and cached
Price of consumer goods could surge as shipping costs soar, industry body says
The price of consumer goods including computers, electrical machinery and transport equipment could surge this year as a result of soaring shipping costs, an industry body has said, adding that “cracks [are] forming in the global trading system”.The cost of transport, energy and raw materials continues to rise and prices remain volatile, which could feed through to businesses and consumers during 2026, according to a study by the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS).Concerns about disruption to supply chains during the next three months reached the highest level in two years, suggesting growing worries among procurement teams. The concerns were reported in a survey conducted in late 2025 by CIPS, an international trade body that represents 64,000 member organisations in procurement and supply chains across 180 countries.Bosses responsible for procurement said they were often the first within companies to notice rising prices or problems getting hold of goods
US authorities reportedly investigate claims that Meta can read encrypted WhatsApp messages
US authorities have reportedly investigated claims that Meta can read users’ encrypted chats on the WhatsApp messaging platform, which it owns.The reports follow a lawsuit filed last week, which claimed Meta “can access virtually all of WhatsApp users’ purportedly ‘private’ communications”.Meta has denied the allegation, reported by Bloomberg, calling the lawsuit’s claim “categorically false and absurd”. It suggested the claim was a tactic to support the NSO Group, an Israeli firm that develops spyware used against activists and journalists, and which recently lost a lawsuit brought by WhatsApp.The firm that filed last week’s lawsuit against Meta, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, attributes the allegation to unnamed “courageous” whistleblowers from Australia, Brazil, India, Mexico and South Africa
We have lost so much of ourselves to smartphones: can we get it back?
In 2003, the Stanford social scientist BJ Fogg published an extraordinarily prescient book. Persuasive Technology: Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do predicted a future in which a student “sits in a college library and removes an electronic device from her purse”. It serves as her “mobile phone, information portal, entertainment platform, and personal organiser. She takes this device almost everywhere and feels lost without it.”Such devices, Fogg argued, would be “persuasive technology systems … the device can suggest, encourage, and reward
Nel Metcalfe hat-trick puts Gloucester-Hartpury top as World Cup bounce goes on
The English top flight returned from a six-week break with impressive crowds continuing to benefit from the post-Rugby World Cup bounce and the battle for top four spots as tight as ever. While only six points separate third from sixth in the Women’s Premiership, the reigning champions, Gloucester-Hartpury, once again proved their superiority with a seven-try 45-26 win over Loughborough that lifted them above Saracens at the top of the table.Gloucester are now five points clear of Saracens, who did not play like weekend, and 12 of the chasing pack as they continued their unbeaten run with their last league defeat coming in November 2024. The defending champions underlined their intent for a fourth consecutive title with a stunning home display. The Wales international Nel Metcalfe was the star for the hosts with a 24-minute first-half hat-trick
Harry Brook blocks out the noise to lead England to T20 series win in Sri Lanka
Numerous apologies, serious scrutiny and, still, he goes and does that. Harry Brook’s 12-ball 36 helped England chase down a revised target of 168 in the second Twenty20 international against Sri Lanka, securing a series victory.England had initially been set 190, but a rain break changed the equation; when Brook emerged England needed 87 from 7.5 overs. He put on an exhibition over the off side to turn the chase his team’s way
‘Menopause gold rush’? Boom in hi-tech products as stigma starts to recede
Paying kidney donors won’t solve the problem | Letters
On Polymarket, ‘privileged’ users made millions betting on war strikes and diplomatic strategy. What did they know beforehand?
Abusers using AI and digital tech to attack and control women, charity warns
‘Chilling’ hacking network is targeting vulnerable children, charity warns
Great Ormond Street surgeon harmed 94 children, review finds