Aryna Sabalenka makes honest consistency admission after reaching world No 1

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Aryna Sabalenka in action

Aryna Sabalenka has made a candid admission about how difficult it was for her to be so consistent this year after becoming world No 1 for the first time.

The Belarusian has claimed it was “not that hard” to be consistent and also feels nothing can “destroy” her after improving the mental side of her game.

The 26-year-old dethroned Iga Swiatek to climb to the top of the WTA Rankings this week, ending the Pole’s 75-week streak. Swiatek’s fourth round defeat to Jelena Ostapenko at the 2023 US Open confirmed Sabalenka would become the new world No 1.

Sabalenka was beaten in three sets by 19-year-old American Coco Gauff in the final of the New York Grand Slam on Saturday. She has had a stellar 2023 season, winning three titles and reaching three other finals.

At the other majors, Sabalenka won the Australian Open and reached the semi-finals at the French Open and Wimbledon.

In an interview with the WTA Insider, Sabalenka discussed the challenge of developing her mental game and overcoming her serving issues.

“It’s been really difficult to improve this part of my game. I’m a really emotional person on court, but off court, it’s really tough to make me upset. You have to do something really terrible to me,” said the 26-year-old.

“The goal was to bring this Aryna on court. I worked really hard. I work with psychologists to get to know myself better. It’s been a lot of work, physically and mentally. I was trying to improve all aspects of my game.

“The thing that helped me improve that part of my game is when I was dealing with all those double faults. I had to learn how to play when I had literally nothing. Just play with my character, just fight for it.

“When I fixed my serve, I realized that I actually can return well, I can serve well now, I can move well. Mentally, I’m really strong. Nothing can really destroy me.”

The Australian Open champion was also asked how hard it is to be consistent following her rise to the pinnacle of the women’s game.

“To be honest, it’s not like it was really hard. When you understand yourself better, when you know yourself better, when you know how to control your emotions, it’s not that hard. If you’re working hard, if you’re if you’re doing everything you can to be ready for all these battles, it’s not that hard,” admitted Sabalenka.

“You’re just focusing on yourself. If you work hard, you know that you have something to bring on the court and you have something to show. You have this belief that, yeah, I can win all these matches. I just have to focus on myself and play my tennis and do things that we’ve been working on.”

READ MORE: WTA Rankings: Aryna Sabalenka topples Iga Swiatek while Coco Gauff forms ‘new Big Three’

Aryna Sabalenka

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