Hey there, fellow tennis enthusiasts It’s your girl Mia Johnson-Carter here, living the dream in Miami. I’m super excited to share some awesome news about one of the most inspiring stories in tennis right now – Aryna Sabalenka’s journey to becoming a top tennis player.
Aryna Sabalenka, the current world No. 2, has been making waves in the tennis world with her impressive performances. Recently, she backtracked on her previous statement that she was going to be “boring” as the Belarusian admits not many things have changed when it comes to her on-court passion and energy. 
In the past, Sabalenka had some very difficult defeats on the biggest stage – most notably, she lost her first three Grand Slam semifinals and it was clear that the pressure and nerves were too much for her to handle in those matches. But when the 2023 season started, she impressively won Adelaide without a dropped set and also reached the Australian Open final without a lost set before creating a comeback win over Elena Rybakina 4-6 6-3 6-4 for her maiden Major title. At the time, Sabalenka credited “becoming boring” for her newfound success.
“I think my calmness on the court. That’s pretty much it. I was just ready for everything. Whatever’s going to happen on court, I’m ready for that. I think this is the key. I wish I would have been like that a few years ago. Finally, I understand what everyone was looking for and asking for. I need to be a little bit boring on court. It’s still about a lot of positive emotions for me, but I’m trying to stay away from negative and just fight for every point,” the 26-year-old said during the 2023 Australian Open.
Since accomplishing her childhood dream of landing a Slam, the Belarusian has added two more Majors to her collection and has also been ranked at the world No. 1 spot. Currently, she is on a 15-match winning streak after winning Cincinnati, the US Open, and making the Beijing quarterfinal. Amidst her big winning streak, a reporter reminded Sabalenka about the “boring” statement she made nearly two years ago and asked if that was something that was to credit for her recent success.
“Well, I think I was a little bit wrong when I said that. I think I’m not boring. I’m still able to bring this fighting spirit. I’m still very competing. I don’t know which word to use to explain. I’m not, like, flat. I still, like, going through some emotions which make me not that boring to watch. I don’t know (smiling). I mean, I’m happy with this win streak. I really hope I can just keep going and see how far I can get with this,” the three-time Grand Slam winner explained.
After failing multiple times to make a real Slam breakthrough, Sabalenka started struggling heavily during the 2022 season. Back then, she started dealing with technical but also mental issues on her serve, which was one of the biggest reasons why she was inconsistent. But after reaching one of the lowest points of her career, the 26-year-old hired a biomechanics coach and it didn’t take long before she completely overturned her situation. Since the start of 2023, Sabalenka has won three of the last Slams that have taken place.
Also, her current winning streak of 15 wins in a row has tied her previous career-best. At the moment, everything seems to be perfect in the 26-year-old’s career.
“Well, I would say that it sounds so beautiful and, like, easy, the place where everyone wants to be. But I made so many sacrifices throughout my career. Even like this year was a lot of difficult, really difficult moments for me. I sacrificed a lot for these wins. I mean, that’s not easy to get to the point, like, where you’re able to win those big titles. It’s a lot of hard work, a lot of patience, a lot of mental work, physical work. It’s not that easy,” Sabalenka explained.
Meanwhile, the top seed is set to battle against Karolina Muchova in the Beijing quarterfinal. Last year, the Belarusian stunningly dropped a 5-2 third-set lead against Muchova in the French Open semifinal before losing to the Czech again a few months later in Cincinnati. After losing to Muchova twice in their last two meetings, there is no doubt that Sabalenka will be determined to get revenge at the China Open.
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