It has been a turbulent start of the year for Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka who is eager to make a statement at this week’s Dubai Tennis Championships where she is the top seed.
The world No.2 has endured mixed results in her first three tournaments of the season which featured back-to-back first-match losses followed by a run to the fourth round of the Australian Open. Throughout her time in Australia Sabalenka looked at times tentatively on her serve as she produced a staggering 39 double faults during her first two matches of the year. She fared slightly better in Melbourne Park by coming back from a set down to win three times in a row before losing to Kaia Kanepi.
“At the beginning of the year I was sulking a lot and I didn’t start well,” said Sabalenka. “Right now I want to put my focus on the consistency of my game and just try to fight for every point. Just to give my best in each match on each point.”
Known for her powerful hitting and aggressive play, Sabalenka has established herself as one of the top players in women’s tennis. During 2021 she broke new territory by reaching the semi-finals at both Wimbledon and the US Open. She also qualified for the WTA Finals in singles for the first time in her career.
Eager to return to her best tennis, the 23-year-old believes the biggest challenge for her is to do with her mentality on the court. As for the tennis side, Sabalenka believes there are few issues she needs to be concerned about despite her erratic serving at times.
“The focus right now is on my mindset because I have everything to win. It’s just all about mentality,” she said. “If I can stay focused from the beginning until the end of each match, and each point. Stay really calm on the court and have this relief in myself back I can go really deep. I will do everything I can to be focused on each point.’
“We’ll see how far I can get.”
Dubai promises to be a stern test for Sabalenka with all eight seeded players currently ranked in the world’s top 20. She will start her campaign against world No.49 Marta Kostyuk who reached the third round of the Australian Open last month. Should she win, the Belarussian then faces two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova who dropped only two games during her first round win over Camila Giorgi.
