Back in 2022, things were quite different for Aryna Sabalenka. She had yet to make it to the finals of a Grand Slam tournament and failed to find consistency on the WTA Tour. One major reason for her failures was her poor serving technique, which she struggled with throughout the early course of her career. However, Sabalenka has a winner’s mentality, and she overcame the dark phase in her career to dominate the women’s circuit. Recently, she made a concerning revelation that raised many eyebrows in the tennis world.

In the past three years, Sabalenka has already won three Grand Slam titles along with an equal number of major finals. Moreover, she is at the top of the WTA rankings chart, which is solid proof of her consistency. This can be credited to her massive improvements in her serving technique, and she highlighted how she overcame this problem.

After her Wimbledon campaign, where she reached the semifinals, the Belarusian star did an interview with Cosmopolitan, where she was asked about how she dealt with the tough times and thoughts of quitting tennis back in 2022. She said, “It was such a long process. A lot of tennis is in your head. You’re always talking to yourself and dealing with emotional moments. We truly tried everything to fix my serve and nothing worked. I thought maybe it was a sign to quit and do something else.”

Further, Sabalenka went on to add, “But it ended up being a turning point for me. I stayed with it, worked even harder, and mentally, I found myself. I got through by trying over and over again. I talked a lot with my team and brought new people into the team. It’s very important to have the right people around you, especially during those moments. It’s all about support.”

Although Aryna Sabalenka has performed consistently in the Grand Slams this year, she has failed to win a major title in 2025. As a result, she received a stern warning from a legendary coach.

Aryna Sabalenka’s top spot under threat?

Sabalenka’s consistency on the WTA Tour has enabled her to remain as the World Number 1 in the WTA rankings. However, Iga Swiatek is back in the groove and won the Wimbledon title quite convincingly recently. Thus, Serena and Venus Williams’ former coach, Rick Macci, believes that the Pole could dethrone Sabalenka soon.

He said, “It will happen sooner than later as Iga will again be number one on the planet because her mind is made of granite. Not a lot of points to defend and the Polish Punisher will be number one by years end.”

Currently, Swiatek is trailing Sabalenka by just over 5500 points. However, Sabalenka faces a tough road ahead as she will defend a lot more ranking points than Swiatek. The Belarusian star is the defending champion at the US Open and will have her task cut out to remain as the World Number 1 at the end of the year.