Peers praise Australian Open winner Aryna Sabalenka’s recent improvement

ABU DHABI: From seriously struggling with her serve at the start of last year to becoming a Grand Slam champion in Melbourne last month, Aryna Sabalenka’s remarkable journey has earned her praise from across the tennis community.

The 24-year-old Belarusian led the WTA tour in double faults in 2022, with a whopping 428 in 55 matches, but still managed to end the season in the top five.

She started working with biomechanics and performance coach Gavin MacMillan in August 2022 to try and overcome her serving woes and it paid dividends as she has kicked off 2023 with a perfect 11-0 record and two titles — Adelaide and the Australian Open.  

Reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, who lost to Sabalenka in the Australian Open final, noted the significant progress her opponent has made on her serve and expects her to continue to be a real threat on tour.

Speaking to Arab News at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open this week, Rybakina said: “I think she’s a really hard-worker and she did a great job. I remember how much she was struggling with the serve, and now there are still some double faults here and there, but overall the serve was really good, especially in the Australian Open final.

“Her second serve was coming in like the first one. The speed was quite high and I think she worked really hard to get to where she is now. I think now she is at her best and will continue like this for sure.”

World No.8 Daria Kasatkina joked that she can relate to Sabalenka when it comes to serving problems, having experienced her fair share, and described the Belarusian as one of the hardest-working players on tour.

“I don’t know if people outside of tennis see it or not, but we are here and see everything inside, you could clearly see