The Belarusian in enjoying a stellar run of form, and is now within striking distance of the world No 1 ranking. Aryna Sabalenka is just two wins short of breaking a career-best record.
Should the world No 2 come through her next two matches in Beijing this week, she will reach a 16-match winning streak, beating the run of 15 consecutive victories she set at the same stage of the season back in 2017.
Remarkably, Sabalenka has dropped only set across her current run of 14 straight wins, and not since a quarter-final exit to Amanda Anisimova in Toronto nearly two months ago has anyone been able to prise two sets off her in a match.
The Belarusian tends to perform well across the Asian swing, and particularly so in China.
“I played so many tournaments in China and I played really well in most of them,” Sabalenka told press following her second-round victory over Ashlyn Krueger in Beijing.
“I don’t know, I love playing in China. I love the conditions. I love the crowd. It’s really great atmosphere. It feels like tennis community became bigger here, more people watching us playing. It’s really amazing to see.”
But this current vein of fine form began well before the Asian stretch, encompassing a 1000-level title in Cincinnati, a Grand Slam triumph in New York, and now extending into the latter months of the season.
There is one obvious common denominator – hard-court tennis. Sabalenka is one of the most formidable forces on the WTA Tour on any surface, but her game is most potent throughout the season’s many elongated stretches on hard courts.
This is most evident in Sabalenka’s rare Grand Slam hard-court double, with title triumphs at both the Australian and US Opens, becoming only the fifth woman to win both tournaments in the same season since they were played on hard courts.
Yet, aside from the conditions she enjoys in China and her intimidating prowess on hard courts in general, Sabalenka has also pointed to another aspect of her game that is lending itself to her current tour-leading form.
“I think control over my emotions, that’s the key,” she explained.
“I think the way I’m controlling my emotions and the way I’m holding myself sometimes really helping me to stay in most of the matches, in those difficult situations to keep fighting and keep playing my best tennis.”
This greater level of emotional control when on court is rooted in Sabalenka having coming through her own off-court difficulties earlier this year, and using those painful life experiences to remain grounded when under pressure during a match.
“In the past I had a lot of difficult things to face. After you face certain things, you realize it’s just sport. Okay, if you’re not going to win this match, what happens? Nobody is going to die. You’re not going to die. It’s okay. You’re going to go in another tournament and you’re going to try your best in the next one.
“Before it felt like if I’m not going to win this match, something bad going to happen. I’m going to die, whatever. But these kind of thoughts create all of that pressure, all of that frustration, all of that crazy stuff.
