Tennis players express their frustrations on the court in several different ways. While some are known to scream hard, others smash their rackets if the match drifts away from them. Aryna Sabalenka is one of these players, and she doesn’t plan on changing her methods anytime soon despite facing severe criticism at times for her aggression. While the Belarusian did admit to trying to keep her emotions in check as a rookie, she soon changed her ways.
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“I will say that in the beginning I was really trying to follow the steps like breathing exercises, counting all the way up to 10 or all the way around,” she said on the Served Podcast. “I was just trying to be like in control. But what I figured out after I don’t know how many years on the Tour, I probably spent too much time to be perfect, that it was really destroying myself inside and I was just trying to figure, ‘Okay, who am I? Like, should I be that way, or should I just sometimes throw this racket and pay the fine but be free on the court and feel like okay, I’m ready to go.'”
Sabalenka has destroyed several rackets on the court, and she doesn’t hesitate to scream to express her frustration. While the 28-year-old does let emotions get the better of her on many occasions, she makes sure not to hurt anyone through her actions.
“I don’t have this aggression that was destroying me inside, and I can’t just focus on the game. And I just decided that if I have to yell, if I have to scream, if I have to throw the racket, I will do it as long as I’m not hurting anyone around me,” she added.
But allowing emotions to get the better of her has cost Sabalenka numerous times. The most recent example of this is her capitulation in the quarterfinals of the French Open against Diana Shnaider. The World No. 1 was cruising towards victory after winning the first set. But she failed to adapt to the windy conditions in Paris, as Shnaider took advantage and leveled the match.
Sabalenka then got humiliated in the decider by suffering a bagel as Shnaider triumphed 3-6, 7-5, 6-0. The Russian won 12 of the last 13 games as Sabalenka finished the match with 57 unforced errors. She screamed multiple times during the collapse and was extremely frustrated with herself as the match drifted in Shnaider’s favor. Her aggressive mentality clearly didn’t benefit her on this occasion.
The Belarusian would want to avoid such a capitulation at the US Open as her No. 1 spot on the rankings is on the line. Elena Rybakina is the prime candidate to take the position. Additionally, both Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff are in contention for the same. Entering the tournament as the defending champion, Sabalenka will have to make a deep run. Otherwise, she is likely to lose her place at the top.