Aryna Sabalenka is set to not develop into complacent, placing in important effort throughout the offseason to construct upon her spectacular 2023 efficiency. Her focus is on enhancing her expertise as she prepares to defend her Grand Slam title on the upcoming Australian Open.
The 25-year-old Belarusian encountered a setback over the weekend when Elena Rybakina, her opponent in final yr’s Melbourne Park closing, ended her 15-match successful streak in Australia with a crushing 6-0, 6-3 victory within the Brisbane International closing.
Despite a lot scowling and head-shaking throughout the all-too-brief contest, Sabalenka shortly laughed off her dangerous day on the workplace and shifted her focus to her subsequent task on the yr’s first Grand Slam.
This response marks a big enchancment from the Sabalenka of solely a few years in the past – a participant armed with all of the weapons to compete for the sport’s main prizes however who crumbled right into a tearful mess on the first signal of a setback.
“After the (2022) season, I decided to change my approach to tennis, just let it go, don’t get crazy on court, try to control myself better, don’t lose myself after tough points or whatever,” she defined in Brisbane.
“Since then, I noticed that it is bringing me a lot management over myself and management within the sport that it is not essential to throw rackets. You miss the purpose, that is okay, simply transfer on and take a look at to consider what you are able to do higher within the subsequent one.
“This kind of approach really helped me last season. Hopefully, I can improve that kind of thinking this season.”
Last yr, Sabalenka additionally reached the U.S. Open closing and the semifinals on the French Open and Wimbledon, turning into the primary lady to achieve no less than the final 4 in any respect the majors in a single season since Serena Williams in 2016.
This accomplishment buried her popularity as a Grand Slam underperformer and she or he would have ended the yr as world No. 1 however for a loss to Iga Swiatek within the semifinals of the WTA Finals in Mexico.
She can be the primary to confess that there stays some work to be performed in fully banishing her demons after shedding final yr’s French Open semifinal regardless of holding a match level and her Wimbledon semi from a set and a breakup.
The reply for the lady who bears a tattoo of a tiger on her arm is figure, work and extra work.
“I’m working a lot on my serve. I still think there are a lot of things to improve on my serve,” she added.
“I’m additionally attempting to step in a bit of bit extra on court docket, acknowledge the quick method pictures, attempt to transfer ahead as an alternative of staying on the baseline.
“It’s been a lot of work in the preseason. As we say, hard work pays off. Hopefully, it’s going to pay off.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com