Finding Aryna: World No. 1 Sabalenka searches for lost zing

The other night in Cincinnati, Aryna Sabalenka was grumpy. She had reason to be. World No. 35 Sara Bejlek, who had never beaten a top-10 player in her young career so far, was frustrating the world No. 1 in a fourthround match. Sabalenka glared at the ball kids angrily as a 5-1 lead in the first-set tiebreaker and a 4-1 lead in the second set slipped from her grasp. Soon enough, the contest was over although Sabalenka’s cold handshake to congratulate the 20-year-old didn’t go unnoticed.

“Tennis needs a new number one,” growled one social media user. “She takes every loss with little to no gravitas,” opined another. “Hopefully Sabalenka will grow up and learn how to handle her losses when her ego is bruised,” snarled another.

Next week, the 28-year-old will start her quest for a third straight US Open title battling an extended run of mediocrity. Sabalenka started the year with a title in Brisbane and a close defeat in the Australian Open final, but brushed that setback off with back-to-back Masters 1000 titles at Indian Wells and Miami. Finally, her powerful all-court game, imposing presence and the experience of accumulating major titles was ready to deliver consistent success. Experts around the circuit were starting to say it out loud – the next dominant women’s singles player was ready to take her place in the elite echelons of the sport.


Since then, the wheels have inexplicably fallen off. On Clay, Sabalenka endured early defeats in Madrid, Rome and then at the French Open in Paris. At Wimbledon, a renewed Naomi Osaka packed her off in the fourth round. The return to her favoured hard-court surface has been visibly underwhelming with early exits in Toronto, and now in Cincinnati, the last tune-up event before the final major of the year in New York. Her winloss ledger for the year now reads 38-7 and her hold on the top spot in the rankings feels increasingly precarious, and worse, undeserving.

So, what appears to have gone wrong for this imposing athlete that has built her game around power and aggression? Her serve for one, isn’t quite the threat it was earlier in the year. Aces would flow with regularity, but those cheap points have now vanished. For instance, against Bejlek, Sabalenka couldn’t hit a single ace in the entire match while conceding f o u r d o u b l e f a u l t s. Essentially, the structure of her game has been disrupted once the strength of her serve has diminished. Sabalenka and her coaching staff also have to find ways to overcome the mental frailty that appears to have consumed her in recent weeks. At Roland Garros she won the first set against Diana Shnaider 6-3 before eventually losing the third 6-0. In Berlin she lost another deciding set 6-0 to Jessica Pegula. And against Bejlek she surrendered significant advantages in both sets. For a player so reliant on power, the lack of confidence forces her to apply greater thrust to her early shots, rather than work her way into rallies. As patience has worn thin, the errors have piled up.

So onwards to the big apple. Sabalenka’s place at the rankings summit is now in real danger, with several players snapping at her heels. While she is on a 14-match unbeaten streak at the US Open, her current form suggests that there is a danger that an inspired early round opponent could trip her up early.

Conversely, she could turn the tables quickly because the technical errors that have besieged her play - late contact, rushed feet, overhit forehands and poorer shot tolerance – can be mended. The weapons that made her such a formidable player haven’t disappeared, and a couple of authoritative wins can restore the conviction. It is a fascinating sub-plot at the very top of women’s tennis. The No. 1 player in the world in a desperate scramble to play, and feel, like one again.