Jimmy Connors didn’t hold back about Aryna Sabalenka’s performance in the Australian Open final—he thinks she just didn’t have that killer instinct when it mattered.

For about a set and a half, Sabalenka had a rough time trying to break Elena Rybakina’s serve. She finally did it in the tenth game of the second set, forced a third set, and quickly jumped out to a 3-0 lead. She even got within two points of going up 4-0. But after that, things completely unravelled. Sabalenka lost the next five games, suddenly trailing 3-5. She managed to hold serve one more time, but Rybakina kept her cool and closed it out, winning 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

Connors, who’s racked up eight Grand Slam titles himself, didn’t mince words. He said Sabalenka should never have let it slip away.

“Sabalenka—she was up 3-0 in the third, right? I might get a little heat for this, but you need that killer instinct,” Connors said on his podcast. “When you’re in a final, and you’ve got someone on the ropes, you have to stay on top, keep the pressure on, cut down on mistakes, and make your opponent fight for every single point. Don’t hand anything over.”

He pointed out Sabalenka’s history of tough losses, saying, “She’s had some bad luck in finals, and maybe there were a few she should’ve won. But when you’re up 3-0 in the third set of a major, you have to finish the job. She’s way too good not to.”

This latest loss marks Sabalenka’s third Grand Slam final defeat in the past year—she fell short in last year’s Australian Open and French Open finals, though she did win the US Open. That puts her at 4-4 in Grand Slam finals.

On the flip side, Rybakina adds the Australian Open title to her resume. With Wimbledon already under her belt, she now owns two Grand Slam trophies.

At 38, he pulled off something wild—coming back from a set down not once, but twice. Four hours and nine minutes later, he left the favourite stunned. World No. 2 looked set to face Carlos Alcaraz in the final, but that dream just vanished.

Sinner actually won 12 more points than Djokovic. He just didn’t make them count. Eighteen break points came his way, but he only converted two. That hurt. The 24-year-old walked off the court knowing he’d outscored the legend, but on the scoreboard, it meant nothing.

Jannik led in almost every stat, even smashing over 70 winners. But when it mattered most, especially in the fifth set with eight break points, he couldn’t pull away. The favourite started strong, taking the first set 6-3.

Novak wasn’t going anywhere, though. He broke in the fourth game of the second set, then dug in to save break points in the fifth and seventh, grabbing the set 6-3 to even things up.

In the third, Sinner fended off a break point in game five, then pounced late to break at 5-4. Two sets to one—he was nearly there.

Djokovic just kept pushing. He broke right away in the fourth set, fought off break points at 4-4, and held his nerve to take it and force a decider.

Then, the old master really dug in. Novak saved five break points early in the fifth. Jannik, up 40-15 in the seventh game, blinked and got broken. That was the turning point.

Novak found himself down 40-0 in the next game but rattled off five points in a row to keep control. Serving at 5-4, he held steady and closed it out. That’s his 11th Australian Open final.

“I was holding serve a bit easier than Novak—he really had to fight and face all those break points. I know I won more points, but honestly, that doesn’t matter when you look at the scoreboard,” Jannik Sinner said.