The tennis world was looking forward to this. Aryna Sabalenka and her first appearance after the Paris disaster. It is also the start of the Wimbledon mission.
Nobody can roll their eyes in annoyance like Aryna Sabalenka. It was one of the moments when she would have lost her balance in Paris. Great serve, but the return blew up in her face so much that the 28-year-old, who tends to be theatrical, performed one of her favorite roles: the solidified pillar of salt. Sometimes with hands on hips, sometimes not. But always with rolling eyes.
15:40, Sabalenka was in danger of losing her serve game for the second time in a row, the momentum that had been on Sabalenka’s side so far was in danger of being overturned. Only this time she quickly found her emotional balance again, concentrated, focused, fought and still won the game. These were the decisive minutes in the match against world number nineteenth Ekaterina Alexandrova at the excellent lawn tournament in Berlin. In the end it was a confident-looking 6:4 6:4, eye roll or not.
Lessons in Self-control
Not a dream start, not a 10, but “a 7 or maybe more like a 6” she would give herself for her first match on grass this season. That means there is still a lot of room for improvement. And indeed, it was clear from the game of the world number one that the French Open had left a clear mark. It has only been a fortnight since Sabalenka suffered the heaviest defeat of her career.
In the quarterfinals of Roland Garros Against the Russian Diana Shnaider everything went according to plan, Sabalenka was leading by one set and 5:3 in the second, when a collapse followed that went down in tennis history. Sabalenka didn’t succeed anymore, lost an incredible ten games in a row and conceded 0:6 in the third set, a debacle. For the perfectionist from Belarus, this was tantamount to declaring bankruptcy. She would like to quit tennis now, she said full of cynicism after the game.
Every game for me now is a lesson in self-control
But after Paris is before Wimbledon, who stops there? The tennis tour barely leaves time to breathe, let alone allow the scars to heal. Between the two Grand Slamtournaments, one on sand and the other on grass, are just three weeks apart. As if the transition to a completely different type of tennis wasn’t difficult enough, Sabalenka also has to overcome her inner crisis at the same time. “I’m learning. Every game is now a lesson in self-control for me,” she confessed after the sports show opened in Berlin. “I know that I have to channel my emotions better and not overreact. That’s why I’m now working more on the mental side of my game and we’ll see how that works out the closer we get to the end of the tournament.”
Haven’t won a tournament on grass yet
The end of the tournament, the Englishman has the nice word for it “Crunch time“. The phase when it crunches, crunches and cracks. When the going gets tough, when the pressure increases. It is precisely in these phases that the emotionally inclined Sabalenka still gets out of her skin too often. Learning by doingthat’s exactly what tournaments like the one in Berlin are for. It was striking how matter-of-factly Sabalenka tried to stay with herself, even when things didn’t go as she had imagined. Where previously glances towards the box were killing, a calm exchange with her coach could now be observed. Demonstrative calmness.
Aryna Sabalenka thanks the fans in Berlin.
With Paris in his backpack, we head towards Wimbledon on the slippery lawn. Aryna Sabalenka has already competed there six times and has never made it to the final once. This also takes its toll on the psyche. In general, the best tennis player in the world has not yet won a single WTA title on grass. Not even here in Berlin, last year it ended in the semi-finals. Her repertoire is actually made for lawn tennis. Very strong serve, hard flat groundstrokes, enormous reach at the net.
The handbrake is still there
Tennis on grass means being creative, full of finesse, quick to think, surprising. This is exactly where Sabalenka has improved in recent months; the former daredevil has matured into a much more variable player over the past two years. At their Berlin appearance yesterday, however, the handbrake was still noticeably in place. It wasn’t until the second set was 2-2 when Sabalenka appeared at the net for the first time ever and artfully delivered a forehand volley. It seemed like a liberation.
The tournament in Berlin runs until Sunday. After that, Aryna Sabalenka takes another week off, then Wimbledon starts. Your seventh attempt. Last year she was ranked number 1, the big favorite. She lost to Amanda Anisimova in the semifinals. Now Wimbledon should finally be their big stage. Without theater.