Aryna Sabalenka will finish the 2024 season as the world number one player for the first time in her career although she has reached the top of the rankings before in September last year, this is more impressive, she was able to displace Swiatek, a position she held for an astonishing 125 weeks, she will become the 29th player overall and the second player from Belarus since Azerenka in 2012, Sabalenka was also a former world No 1 with partner Elise Mertens in the doubles category. it was never going to be easy but Sabalenka is a disciple of self Perfection, she has a willingness and charm to improve and evolve into the best, a lesson for everyone that wants to reach the top in any discipline.

The Start for Sabalenka

Aryna was introduced to tennis by her Dad, Sergey a former hockey player, it was love at first sight and lots of hard work afterwards, she developed her playing style as an aggressive baseliner, winning her first title as a doubles player with Vera Lapko in 2013 and her first singles title in Finland at the MTV junior cup the following year. her rise to fame came when she reached the finals of the FED cup in 2017 with Sasnovich, losing in the decider to the United States. both players were ranked below the top 70 at that time. it was a start for Sabalenka which led her to more achievements, she won the Mumbai open towards the end of the season defeating Jakupovic 6-2 6-3 her first WTA title.

it was in 2018 that she started making giant strides, her first three major tournament ended in the first round but she recorded the biggest win of her career in defeating the world number 2 player Wozniacki in the Canadian open, she won against two other top 10 players Pliskova and Garcia before losing to the top ranked player Simona Halep. She won Connecticut open with a victory over Carla Suarez Navarro and had earlier reached her first final of the season in the Lugano open on clay losing to future doubles partner Mertens, in the final major which was the US open she reached the fourth round with big wins against world No.5 Kvitova in the third round and was stopped in the following round by Osaka, she was the only player to take her to three sets en route to her first major win. Sabalenka was growing in confidence and won Wuhan open, the biggest title of her blossoming career, she reached the quarter finals of the China open, at the end of the season she qualified for the WTA elite trophy, in her first full professional season she won the newcomer of the season award, a first for her country, it was indicative of her progress. she broke into the top ten the following year after the Australian open, In another milestone, she retained the Wuhan title defeating the world number one ranked player Barty, it was the first time in her career to win against the best player, she then won the finals against Riske, at the end of the season she reached another WTA elite tropy event and won it, this was her third win in China in 2019 and the second time she will win against Riske. she had not been able to perform strongly at the grand slams but her prospects were pointing at the hard courts as a possible breakthrough slam. this evidence was highlighted when in her second tournament with Elise Mertens, they won the Indian well title stopping the top seeds Krejčíková and Siniaková in the final, they had knocked out three of the top five seeds, success was becoming a habit and they won the Miami open, claiming the sunshine double after defeating three of the top seeds during the tournament, they took the partnership to another level when they won the US open defeating the eighth seeds, compatriot Victoria Azarenka and Ashleigh Barty, a first for both of them, an improvement to the Channel majors where they reached the semi finals at the Rolland Garos and the quarter finals at Wimbledon, this enabled Aryna to reach No 6 in the doubles ranking, she broke into the top ten in the singles and doubles within a short period of time. they entered the season ending WTA Finals as the top seeds but failed to go beyond the group stage. the new season was highlighted by the victory over her partner Mertens in the finals to win Linz to add to her title win at Doha. It was a transition towards more success, her individual strength and ability to compete at the highest level was gaining all the necessary elements required to overcome any adversity, her victories in the doubles was giving her that extra and necessary edge, it was left for her to go beyond that transition, a challenge most players even with enough talent fail to achieve but Sabalenka had the right mindset, she possessed an objectivity to assess herself without being judgemental or too critical, an ability to improve and grow without regressing, a very demanding progression which only a few survive to reach the top which is occupied only by the best, This endurance is tested more than ever in any endeavor that requires an individual effort.In team sports, players complement one another, allowing the team to compensate for any individual dip in performance, for any individual sport however, even the slightest shortfall is punished on the grand stage.

Sabalenka`s basic moves to Perfection

Sabalenka had an aggressive baseline game, on her day she can sweep aside any opponent but against the best or when she is not in her best form she fails to deliver enough to reach the finish line, her major weapon, her serve and forehand becomes a liability, notoriously unreliable and a let down, this highlights her vulnerability and how she transformed it into a weapon for success, this is a great lesson for everyone seeking self perfection, an inspiration for all disciples from any discipline having to deal with a cross or some sort of weakness, on how to deny self and painfully embrace all that is necessary for self mastery, how allowing each pain and setback navigate towards improvement. This requires humility and a willingness to commit to greatness, her forehand was handing her unforced errors and double faults. her own weapon was undermining her with faults at the crucial stages of her matches. it was limiting her progress to lifting a major title and achieve the consistency which is required to be the best.

While a work in progress, She won at Abu Dhabi with a straight sets victory over Kudermetova leading her to a winning streak of 15 matches, she lost in the fourth round to her idol, Serena Williams at the Australian open but won her second major with her doubles partner Mertens at Melbourne, reaching world number 0ne in February in 2021, at Spain, she impressed in Madrid by defeating Barty for her fourth WTA title, it enabled her rank at number four, at the doubles,she teamed up with Azarenka to win at the German open defeating the top seeds Schuurs and Melichar. Aryna Sabalenka reached the semi finals at Wimbledon for the first time, a surface that she confessed was her favorite with the hard courts, she was getting closer to the top in both winning a major and the ranking summit, she reached the no.3 ranking for the first time, despite her loss to Pliskova in three sets which happened again in another semi finals in Montreal- in two sets, and a loss to her friend Badosa nevertheless, she reached the no. 2 ranking. she reached another major semi finals at the US open defeating Mertens in the process but lost again in three sets to Leylah Fernandez which was another semi final setback, a hurdle which her limitations was causing, however she carried over this form to the following year and again lost in the fourth round in the Australian open, her unforced errors especially her double faults was letting her down, in 2020 it ranked the most by any player(166)and in 2022 she led the tour with an extra ordinary428 double faults. she consistently hit winners and double faults at a very high rate and was also losing to the top player Swiatek, it happened thrice in several months, in Doha at the quarter finals which allowed her slip from the world no.2 ranking, she lost to the Polish in the Stuttgart finals and in the semi finals in Rome, she could not participate in Wimbledon for political reasons the ban on Russian and Belarusian players as a result of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, her third round exit at the French open left her hope of any final break through in the last major in the United States, she fell short again in the semi finals losing to nemesis Swiatek. she was able to defeat her at the semi finals of the season ending WTA finals but lost to Garcia in the finals it was a significant tournament joining tennis greats Graf and the William sisters in defeating the three top seeds in a tournament but with an unwanted record of not winning the tournament. in the group stage she defeated world no.3, American Pegula and Tunisia`s world no.2 Ons Jabeur before overcoming the world number. 1, to reach her first finals. Sabalenka was able to face and overcome her mental and psychological hurdles by confronting her weaknesses with both hands and exert a willingness to solve her difficulties with belief, in the summer she started working with a biomechanics expert, this helped her to overcome yips and other internal factors that attacks her mind and ability to perform under high pressure and expectations, it was a battle she took positively, this helped her to overcome the new dominant tennis player Swiatek, she had lost to several times,she had taken the basic and fundamental step which is, to identify the problem, and then set up a strategy and action plan to overcome it, such was her conviction that in Melbourne in 2023 she took the learning from her setbacks into another semi final with a different outcome, she was able to manage her emotions, expectations and the pressure that comes with it and with her major weapon a refined forehand and blistering groundstrokes she broke her semi finals hoodoo defeating Linette, her confidence from winning her 11th career singles title in Adelaide and her mastery of her powerful serves pushed her into the finals, her wins included Bencic, Vekic and Mertens a reminder that being a champion in doubles does not always translate into winning at the singles category, a reflection of her transition and improvement. She defeated Rybakina in three tough sets, from a set deficit she prevailed against another powerful baseliner and current Wimbledon champion, from reaching her first quarter finals and final match in this tournament to a first major title, joining Azarenka as a slam champion and the second woman to achieve such remarkable milestone from her country. she became the fourth female player to win both the singles and doubles in Australia joining both Martina-Navratilova and Hingis and Serena Williams. her words after her victory showed how she had effectively handled her past experience

“I think it’s even more enjoyable, I would say, after all those tough matches,” Sabalenka said. “I really feel right now that I really needed those tough losses to kind of understand myself a little bit better. It was like a preparation. ”

Sabalenka is also a very accessible Champion

Every worthy achievement will pass through a test, an examination similar to a furnace for gold, she embraced her struggles, her transformation and belief can be understood by her remarks “I think I wouldn’t win a Grand Slam without that situation. I would be emotional every time, I would be screaming, crying on the court, instead of playing tennis. Just because of that I became a different player. I became calmer on the court and I started to respect myself a little bit more. I have belief more in myself because of the last year. I think that really helped me. ”

Sabalenka enjoying her success

Sabalenka was able to conquer self and history becoming the 128th major champion.

Sabalenka is the best player on hard courts

She is indeed a champion, an inspiration and very sociable She retook the no.2 position with that win, she also won her third title of the season by defeating the best player in the world Swiatek in Madrid a revenge and rematch of the title match in Stuttgart several weeks ago, she reached another semi finals the second in succession at the french open but lost to Muchova despite holding a 5-2 lead and a match point, she lost again in the semi finals at Wimbledon to Ons Jabeur throwing away a set and break advantage, in the US open she emulated Serena`s 2016 run in reaching all the semi finals of all the season`s major grand slam when she overcame Madison Keys from a set and break, with her improved serve saving her four times from match point and defeat, although she lost to Coco Gauff in the finals she rose to the no.1 ranking the pinnacle of any sport, Aryna was the eight player to hold both singles and doubles top ranking at some point in their career, sadly her loss to Swiatek in the WTA semi finals prevented her from finishing the year as the no.1 ranked player. but her confidence as a result of her approach to improvement yielded another break through she joined Navratilova,Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Hingis,Davenport,Clijsters and the William sisters in Australia, by winning the tournament without dropping a single set and also emulating her compatriot Azarenka`s 2013 successful title defence again her ability to learn from painful defeats an open secret to her success, her viral video when she was smashing her racquet and in tears after her final loss at last year`s US open was only a past, a pain she left behind, most people will not recover or bounce back but she did, even defeating Gauff in the semi finals in straight sets, a rematch of the US open finals. She won in the finals without committing a double fault an outstanding turn around and a lesson in commitment defeating Zheng Qinwen in straight sets. Sabalenka added another major after an injury setback.

She won the US open defeating Pegula 7-5 7-5

She won again in Cincinnati after duly recovering from a shoulder injury that kept her out of Wimbledon. defeating Swiatek in the semi finals and Pegula in the final, She defeated the American again in the US open finals to win her maiden US open title, her second major of the year and third in total in reaching the WTA semi finals unlike last year she was able to end the year as world number one. with her third major victory. her third on the hard court and the leading active player on that surface matching Henin`s record in 2007 when she won her third hard court major.

She was able to surpass Azarenka,Krejčíková,Halep,Muguruza and several others with two majors and is equal with Barty, Kerber and America`s Davenport and Capriati and within her sights if she wins another title in 2025 is Osaka,Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Clijsters with four and if she can emulate this year`s performance of winning two then Sharapova,Hingis and depending on, if Swiatek is still winning, she will level them with five. Sabalenka has been the leading player from the chasing pack against Swiatek, how she will respond as the leader will be seen in the new year. She will need a lot of fighting to remain on top, in her own words “Fighting is about working when it’s tough moments, to work through, not get emotional, control yourself, and just think about what you have to do.  it will be an interesting outcome her first assignment will be if she can win her third successive title at the Australian open an indication of what to expect in the future.