Aryna - World's Number One

[jimlosaltos]

Can you believe it's been 5 years since we featured Sabalenka in a TPN Tour Portrait? Please click at this link to see Aryna featured in this June issue.

Since then Aryna Siarhiejeŭna Sabalenka (first name pronounced "Ah-REEN-ah, like sports arena) won three (3) slams - the Ausse in 2023, 2024, and USO in 2024 - to pass Iga for world number one. Along the way she's dealt with serving woes that would have destroyed the self-confidence of most players, and never stopped hitting out. If she gets by Coco tomorrow, Aryna will be a threat -- for the Chunnel Sweep?

Our photos of her come from multiple matches at both San Jose and the BNP Paribas Open Indian Wells. Please enjoy. All (c)jfawcette.

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[jimlosaltos]

Aryna is still number one by a good margin. Her 3,500+ lead over Coco almost equals Coco's lead on number 8 Madison Keys.

Perhaps the most surprising is that 5 players, half the top 10, are Americans, with Keys' resurgence being the biggest surprise. Jingoists rejoice!

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[jimlosaltos]

Cross posting from Berlin thread, so Aryna fans can see. She's been by far the most consistent, top player on the WTA this year. {Yes, I used consistent and Saby in the same paragraph }

Sabalenka loses her first semifinal in three years today in Berlin to Vondrousova.

Aryna Sabalenka in semifinals in 2025:

Brisbane (Andreeva)
Australian Open (Badosa)
Indian Wells (Keys)
Miami (Paolini)
Stuttgart (Paolini)
Madrid (Svitolina)
Roland-Garros (Swiatek)
Berlin (Vondrousova)

The Saby beaters as journo Bastien Fachan put it:

Czech Code

2023 - Karolina Muchova, Czech Republic
2024 - Marie Bouzkova, Czech Republic
2025 - Marketa Vondrousova, Czech Republic

[jimlosaltos]

Update June 25: Not only does Sabalenka have a large lead in the WTA rankings, but a good lead in the Race AKA YTD rankings. The two, of course, "merge" into one at year's end.

Jingoists will note that the USA has four (4) players in the top 10, while Madison Keys' resurgence is a pleasant surprise, and Elina Svitolina's return from motherhood is impressive, the biggest surprise must be Amanda Anisimova at number 10. Always had the talent and the game.

Now 18 yo Mirra Andreeva is by far the youngest in the top 10. It seems as if Iga has fallen off the edge of a cliff but she's still number 4.

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[airforce1]

Looks like Gavin MacMillan has done an amazing job with Aryna, given that since he worked with her, the serve has been much more dependable. I think her Fade Drive Fh has greatly improved over the same time as well. I spent nearly 2 hours speaking with him last spring on how to improve her Fade with better Shot Matching skills. Imo Gavin was able to incorporate some of that into her game to good effect.

[jimlosaltos]

Looks like Gavin MacMillan has done an amazing job with Aryna, given that since he worked with her, the serve has been much more dependable. I think her Fade Drive Fh has greatly improved over the same time as well. I spent nearly 2 hours speaking with him last spring on how to improve her Fade with better Shot Matching skills. Imo Gavin was able to incorporate some of that into her game to good effect.

Interesting. I'm checking the WTA but, sadly, their stats are pretty minimal. Still, Saby's first serve points won is down to 62.8%, which isn't even in the top 20, but her second serve points won is up to 61.1% I noticed in one event recently that her first serve rarely got above 110 MPH. That's an inadequate data set but still looks like she's gotten more conservative with her serve?

[don_budge]

Looks like Gavin MacMillan has done an amazing job with Aryna, given that since he worked with her, the serve has been much more dependable. I think her Fade Drive Fh has greatly improved over the same time as well. I spent nearly 2 hours speaking with him last spring on how to improve her Fade with better Shot Matching skills. Imo Gavin was able to incorporate some of that into her game to good effect.

This thread had some interesting conversation regards the Sabalenka motion. There is another one specifically focused on the Gavin MacMillan claim he "fixed" her serve. I'll try to dig it up.

https://www.tennisplayer.net/bulletin/forum/tennisplayer/100259-interactive-forum-april-2023-aryna-sabalenka-serve

[airforce1]

This thread had some interesting conversation regards the Sabalenka motion. There is another one specifically focused on the Gavin MacMillan claim he "fixed" her serve. I'll try to dig it up.

https://www.tennisplayer.net/bulleti...abalenka-serve

Thanks for the point to that discussion. A long one and I'm working thru it. Hopefully you do see that her serve has been far more dependable as she has climbed to a strong Home since their work together.

[jeffreycounts]

Thanks for the point to that discussion. A long one and I'm working thru it. Hopefully you do see that her serve has been far more dependable as she has climbed to a strong Home since their work together.

Now Coco might need to work with him. She pretty much double faulted her way out of the first round of Wimbledon. Roddick probably wasn't the best choice for helping her with her serve.

[stroke]

Now Coco might need to work with him. She pretty much double faulted her way out of the first round of Wimbledon. Roddick probably wasn't the best choice for helping her with her serve.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/odJpr55g8xq4KWcg9

[jeffreycounts]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/odJpr55g8xq4KWcg9

Nice snapshot. With a first serve percentage of 44% and 9 double faults, you aren't going to beat many people at Wimbledon.

[jimlosaltos]

Since this is turning into a Coco thread, Darren Cahill on her second serve.

"It's technique not mental. She's collapsing, dumping a lot of her double faults into the net. She needs to keep her left arm up."

"Plus she's bringing her racket around {I believe with the wrong side facing out) so she has to hit around the ball giving it ( sidespin)"

"It's fixable. She can fix this but it will take time off to work on it."

[don_budge]

Thanks for the point to that discussion. A long one and I'm working thru it. Hopefully you do see that her serve has been far more dependable as she has climbed to a strong Home since their work together.

My contention is that Gavin MacMillan had no discernible effect on the Sabalenka motion. If you watch her serve at this Wimbledon she still has an obvious awkward hitch in it. There was a video of Gavin talking at length about how he had worked wonders with her serve, but he came off sounding like a infomercial. He even gave contact information at the end of it. My take was he was a total imposter and did nothing to change her serve. Is her serve improved? It's possible. But the thing is twofold. Number one...she is an exceptional athlete and she is going to learn to manage her motion no matter if it is flawed or not. The second point is...I always judge serve motions on potential and to me it is quite obvious that there was loads more potential in her motion when Gavin supposedly was done working his magic with it. There still is as a matter of fact. Modern serve motions are generally flawed due to the over emphasis on speed.

Roger Federer had the best motion of all and his ability to take care of his serve in the manner that he did bears this out. He was absolutely hands down in serving games in under a minute. He was also the best in serving out matches and sets for that matter. Roger's motion spelled out CONTROL...as in power. Various combinations of speed, spin and placement. Whatever the situation called for. With Sabalenka it is always going to be somewhat of an adventure due to the guess work in her motion in moments of pressure. As I mentioned...she is a fabulous athlete. She is going to manage unless her opponent can challenge her to do otherwise.

[jimlosaltos]

Sabalenka Over Emma: Match of the Event So Far?

Yesterday's match could be the best so far. No, it wasn't tennis perfection. But for tension, drama and competitive energy, it was awesome. A packed stadium screamed for everything local Emma Raducanu did and as the pressure built on Sabalenka, it must have seemed as if Aryna was inside the OceanGate about to implode, crushed by the pressure of 14,979 spectators' roars. She wavered, she buckled but never collapsed.

Short highlight video:

From The Athletic:

"Not since 1977 had a British woman beaten the top seed at Wimbledon. The odds weren’t in Raducanu’s favour, but how much did odds matter to a player who won the 2021 U.S. Open as an 18-year-old qualifier? ... Then came one of the most dramatic games this court has ever seen. Sabalenka forced seven set points; Raducanu saved every single one, five of them with serves that forced Sabalenka into missed backhands. The noise that met Raducanu holding was so loud it sounded as though the reverberations would ring beyond the 11 p.m. curfew.

It got even louder a few minutes later when Raducanu broke again and had the chance to serve out the set. Memories of 10 years ago, when Heather Watson came within two points of beating world No. 1 Serena Williams on this court, at the same stage, on the same day of the tournament, came flooding back. It was deafeningly loud then, and it was again now...

A seemingly frazzled Sabalenka broke back to force the tiebreak, but Raducanu forced a set point of her own at 6-5. At this point, Sabalenka showed why she’s the world No. 1, producing a stunning backhand drop shot that completely outfoxed her opponent. People focus on Sabalenka’s fearsome power, but it’s the variety and comfort in adversity she has added that has turned her from streaky into a serial champion.

Then, a couple of points later, Sabalenka finally clinched the opener on what was her eighth set point. A vocal player normally, there was no sound from her this time, just a knowing look to her team. She acknowledged after that she needed to stay calm and not make the same mistakes she had made in Paris.

Like Jeff Bridges' character from Joel and Ethan Coen's "The Big Lebowski", "The Dude (Dudette) Abides". Saby's main strength is that she endures. Sets records for double faults? Plays through it. 14,979 screaming locals? Imagine they're cheering for you. Tiebreak pressure? Aryna Sabalenka is 14-1 in tiebreaks for 2025, all fourteen wins in a row.

[stroke]

That is a no for me, as for the match of the tournament, not that it matters.