By Shrivathsa Sridhar
BENGALURU (Reuters) – A sparkling 2024 in which Aryna Sabalenka swept the hardcourt Grand Slams and clinched the year-end world number one ranking has left the powerful Belarusian dreaming of dominating the women’s game as Serena Williams did for so long.
Once best known for a propensity to lose her cool on court, Sabalenka has transformed her game to become a ruthlessly effective player capable of blowing opponents away in a style reminiscent of Serena in her prime.
After her major breakthrough at last year’s Australian Open, the 26-year-old retained the Melbourne title in January before adding the U.S. Open crown to her trophy cabinet in September, leapfrogging Iga Swiatek in the rankings last month.
Sabalenka’s New York run meant she had reached at least the semi-finals at nine of her last 12 Grand Slams — form reminiscent of Serena’s 10 last-four appearances between 2014 and 2017 when the American landed six of her 23 major titles.
“I always wanted to dominate the tour like Serena did, like Iga was able to do for so long,” Sabalenka told Arab News ahead of the season-ending WTA Finals, where she sealed the year-end top spot despite a semi-final loss to Coco Gauff.
“It’s really inspiring … but I’m trying to focus on myself, on improving myself, to make sure that I have all of the tools to dominate the tour as they did.”
With a powerful serve and thunderous groundstrokes, Sabalenka always looked destined for a spot in the top 10 and she finished the 2021 season second in the world.
Her error count was high, though, and the serve was a picture of inconsistency to the extent that she topped the tour in double faults in the 2020 season.
Frustration at her technical shortcomings sometimes left her in tears and at the Adelaide International in early 2022 she resorted to serving underarm.
A spell with a psychologist and work on her serve with biomechanics coach Gavin MacMillan before the 2023 season laid the groundwork for her first Grand Slam title at last year’s Australian Open.
Sabalenka continued her impressive form and began to thrive away from the hard courts, reaching the semi-finals on clay at the French Open and on the Wimbledon grass.
The frustrations returned when she suffered a heartbreaking three-set defeat by Gauff in the final at Flushing Meadows and she destroyed her racket in what she thought was a private moment in the locker room.
Her devastation at the loss was mitigated by the fact that she had risen to the top of the rankings for the first time.
Sabalenka conceded the top spot after a late surge from Swiatek at last year’s WTA Finals in Cancun but she has set the standard at hardcourt tournaments this season, taking titles in Wuhan and Cincinnati to storm to the top again.
GROWING ARSENAL
A sign that Sabalenka was more at ease with the suffocating pressure at the top of the game came when she made a tradition of signing the bald head of her trainer before matches on her run to her second title in Melbourne in January.
She won over American fans in her U.S. Open title clash with home hope Jessica Pegula, producing spectacular shot-making that showcased power and poise thanks to the drop shots she added to her growing arsenal.
“Five years ago if someone told me I’ll finally learn how to do this shot, I’d be laughing,” Sabalenka said.
“I don’t have touch. I’m so bad at it. Now I have this shot in my pocket. It brings a lot of pressure on opponents, because now they know they have even more variation.”
Sabalenka’s reaction after squandering a 3-0 lead in the second set to eventually clinch the tie particularly impressed former number one Kim Clijsters.
“Just like Serena, she has the ability to step up when needed,” the Belgian told the ‘Served with Andy Roddick’ podcast.
Her coach Anton Dubrov thinks it will be tough for Sabalenka to hang on to the number one spot through the 2025 season but said she at least now understands what it takes.
“I think she’s more mature, understanding what she needs to do to be on this level,” said the Belarusian, who has worked with Sabalenka since 2020.
“Because you’re number one, everyone plays against you like they have nothing to lose. They can play the best game they can do.
“And you, with all the stress and all this level, you always have to be consistent, or even higher all the time. For her it’s about finding the way to adapt to all situations.
“She’s much better at doing that now. She understands, even when she’s not at her best level.”
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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