73 at the end of the year. 1 seed at the Tournoi de Québec, but lost her opening match. Aryna Siarhiejeŭna Sabalenka (Belarusian: Арына Сяргееўна Сабаленка; Russian: Арина Сергеевна Соболенко, Arina Sergeyevna Sobolenko, born 5 May 1998) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. [11] Sabalenka fared worse at Wimbledon, losing her opening match to No. Dmitry Tursunov became her primary coach in time for the grass court season in 2018. Sabalenka is currently in the process of resuming her season at the Top Seed Open in Lexington, Kentucky. And I really liked it. 2 in doubles, Singles: WTA Elite Trophy, three titles in China in total, Doubles: US Open champion, Sunshine Double, 2017: Surprise runner-up in World Group debut, 2018–19: Avoiding demotion, another semifinal, "Meet Aryna Sabalenka, the 19-year-old rising star from Belarus, who won her first WTA title at Mumbai Open", "Шакутин рассказал о соперничестве двух главных надежд белорусского женского тенниса", "Belarus scale new heights after win in Moscow", "Mondo ITF: Bogdan trionfa a Grado. [35] In the latter, she recorded two more top ten wins over No. Sabalenka and Mertens reached the semifinals at the French Open, losing to second seeds Babos and Mladenovic. Sabalenka Hires Dieter Kindlmann as New Coach Aryna Sabalenka has switched coaches. 22 Kiki Bertens at the French Open. 8 Kiki Bertens at the Premier-level St. Petersburg Ladies' Trophy in February. In the former, she avenged her previous loss to world No. [58] In the knockout rounds, Sabalenka defeated Karolína Muchová and Bertens for her fifth career title, and her third title of the year in China.[59]. Former US Open champion Sloane Stephens succumbed to the shock result of the day, meanwhile, as she crashed out to world number 83 Nao Hibino. [2][3][4], In 2015, the Belarusian Tennis Federation persuaded Sabalenka and her team to focus on playing low-level professional events instead of junior tournaments, even though she was still eligible to compete at the junior level at the time. Aryna started playing tennis by chance. [24], After playing relatively few WTA events in 2017, Sabalenka utilized her higher ranking to play exclusively on the WTA Tour in 2018. Sabalenka had been working with Kindlmann, who used to coach her doubles partner Elise Mertens, heading into the US Open, but the Belarusian elected not to keep him on. Doppietta della giovane francese Gravouil", "Injured aces Thanasi Kokkinakis, Oliver Anderson face race against time as Aussie summer looms", "2017 Season Review: Aryna Sabalenka, a new name on the rise", "Wimbledon 2017: Aryna Sabalenka wins Grand Slam debut over Irina Khromacheva", "Teenagers Andreescu, Sabalenka score big wins in DC", "Pliskova, Hibino, Parmentier out as 'Tashkent Open jinx' continues", "Babos, Sabalenka beat the rain for Tashkent semifinal spots", "WTA Tianjin: Aryna Sabalenka storms into her first WTA final with win over Sara Errani", "Sharapova wins first title in two years at Tianjin Open", "USA claims 2017 Fed Cup after Belarus battle", "Sabalenka claims L&T Mumbai Open for biggest career title", "Ranking Movers: Sabalenka soars into Top 75", "Halep, Begu to square off in Shenzhen semifinals", "Sabalenka knocks out top seed Zhang in Hobart", "Australian Open: Aryna Sabalenka's screams see crowd mock her grunts as Ashleigh Barty advances", "WTA Indian Wells: Aryna Sabalenka upsets defending finalist Svetlana Kuznetsova in comfortable fashion", "Mertens captures Lugano for second title of year", "Sabalenka shocks Pliskova to reach Eastbourne semifinals", "Wozniacki dodges Sabalenka to claim Eastbourne title", "Wimbledon 2018 Buzărnescu, prima victorie pe tabloul principal! 76 by the time of the final. The Belarusian, who had worked with Dmitry Tursonov off and on since the middle of 2018, but apparently the time for Sabalenka to move on has come. Aryna Sabalenka has switched coaches. Following the 2017 Fed Cup, she began having more success on the WTA Tour, reaching four finals in 2018 to go along with eight top ten victories. At the end of the season, Sabalenka defended her Alatan Tour Cup doubles title, this time with compatriot Nika Shytkouskaya, and also won the singles title. [87] Although Sabalenka has the ability to hit a lot of winners, they are often accompanied by a lot of unforced errors. She said, "One day, my dad was just driving me somewhere in the car, and on the way he saw tennis courts. 54 Viktorija Golubic respectively. "[79], Belarus was unable to repeat their 2017 Fed Cup success in 2018. 1 Simona Halep. Sabalenka started the year ranked No. To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended. Sabalenka had worked with Khalil Ibrahimov for two years up until early 2018. [50] In-between the Grand Slam tournaments, Sabalenka's best result was a semifinal loss to No. By subscribing, you are agreeing to Yahoo's Terms and Privacy Policy. Sabalenka was unheralded as a junior and relatively unknown until 2017 when she rose to prominence by leading the Belarus Fed Cup team to a runner-up finish with Aliaksandra Sasnovich, despite both of them being ranked outside the top 75 at the time. [86] Tennis broadcaster and former professional player Mary Carillo praised the power in her style of play along with her fierce attitude, describing her game as "big babe tennis personified". ATP Announces Six-Week Pause as COVID-19 Shuts Down ... Tennis Celebrates International Women’s Day, Halep Has Clear Path to No.1 at Roland Garros. 2 Caroline Wozniacki. [11] However, she did not win another match for the rest of the clay court season, including a first round defeat to No. Their quarterfinal tie was held in Minsk against Germany. [83] They advanced to face Australia in the semifinals. She has won nine WTA titles in total, six in singles and three in doubles. [77], On the opening day of the final against the United States, Sabalenka upset the reigning US Open champion and world No. Anna Blinkova, who beat Myrtille Georges 6-1 6-2, awaits Sabalenka in round two. Get all the sports news you need, direct to your inbox. 7 Karolína Plíšková. With this performance, she rose to No. She swept her round robin group of Maria Sakkari and her doubles partner Elise Mertens. She finished both 2018 and 2019 ranked No. The first in Tianjin[13] put her into the top 200 in May and the second in Toyota[14] in November helped her finish the year ranked at No. [16] Sabalenka followed up this achievement with another WTA win over No. 2 and No. World No.13 Aryna Sabalenka recently announced on Instagram the end of her coaching relationship with former player Dmitry Tursunov. [85] She has a powerful serve and her game is built around going for groundstroke winners. 225. [60] The pair matched this success at their next event by winning the Miami Open to complete the Sunshine Double. [34], During the North American hard court summer season, Sabalenka continued to rise through the rankings. They had their breakthrough in March at the two Premier Mandatory tournaments. Her father Sergey (d. 2019) was a hockey player. "[88], Sabalenka prefers playing on grass and hard courts. 18 Ashleigh Barty. 2 Wozniacki for the biggest win of her career, hitting 64 winners during the match. She made it to the quarterfinals at the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships and the final at the Premier-level Eastbourne International. [68] She then made her senior Fed Cup debut for Belarus in April 2016, losing a dead rubber doubles match against Russia. [69][70] Little was expected from the team because they were without their veteran leader Azarenka, who missed the first two ties on maternity leave and the last because of a custody battle. [53], Sabalenka had a better second half of the season. Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka speaks about her coaching relationship with her current coach Dmitry Tursunov, a former player himself on the ATP Tour. [38][39], After the US Open, Sabalenka earned her first No. While Sabalenka lost her opening matches to their opponents' respective top-ranked players of Kiki Bertens and Timea Bacsinszky, Sasnovich was able to give Belarus a 2–1 lead in each instance. [73] Sabalenka then clinched both ties, with wins over Michaëlla Krajicek and No. [93], Sabalenka has a tiger tattoo on her left arm. 1 Ashleigh Barty in the semifinals, her first victory over a current world No. 6 Elina Svitolina in the second round and did not drop a set in any of her last four matches. [84], Sabalenka is an aggressive baseliner. [11] She began partnering with Elise Mertens in January, when the pair lost to top seeds Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková in the third round of the Australian Open. At the latter event, she won five consecutive three set matches, including three over top 20 opponents and her first top ten victory against defending champion and world No. [3] Her tennis idols growing up were Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. In the final, they faced eighth seeds Victoria Azarenka and Ashleigh Barty, the latter of whom had won the title a year earlier with CoCo Vandeweghe. [36] Just a week later, Sabalenka won her first WTA title at the Premier-level Connecticut Open with wins over world No. She lost in the second round to top seed Markéta Vondroušová. Sabalenka lost to 17-year-old Amanda Anisimova in straight sets at both the Australian Open and the French Open in the third and second rounds respectively. That's how it started." After a US Open doubles title later in the year, she also qualified for the WTA Finals for the first time. Nonetheless, the Belarusian team led by Victoria Azarenka and Aliaksandra Sasnovich won the tie to qualify for the top-tier World Group the following season for the first time in their history. I'm going to work with my hitting partner for now as my coach.". 76 in the rankings, entering the top 100 for the first time. 6 in the world. In particular, she upset world No. [11] At the end of the season, Sabalenka qualified for the WTA Elite Trophy, where she was grouped with Garcia and Ashleigh Barty. 2 in doubles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). I think my game is suited for grass and for hard courts. Sabalenka … 5 Petra Kvitová in the third round before losing to the eventual champion Naomi Osaka. Stephens was going up against an opponent who was 0-3 across her first three events since the season was restarted, but Hibino secured a hard-fought 6-2 3-6 6-1 triumph. After taking the first set against Anna-Lena Grönefeld and Tatjana Maria, they ultimately lost the rubber and the tie. [55] Sabalenka returned to China following the US Open, and produced three strong results in four events. [44] Nonetheless, she was named the WTA Newcomer of the Year for her excellent performance in her first full year on the WTA Tour. According to WTA Insider the World No.11 has hired Dieter Kindlman, the former coach of Elise Mertens and Angelique Kerber, and a former hitting partner of Maria Sharapova. She has been a top ten player in both singles and doubles, having been ranked as high as No. Sabalenka also won a $25K title the last week of the year. The Belarusian, who had worked with Dmitry Tursonov off and on … Whereas Sabalenka did not have much success in the Grand Slam singles events, she produced much better results in doubles. I prepared mentally and with tactics, so I think it helped a lot today.". Sabalenka also began playing doubles regularly in 2019. Perez was last year's doubles champion in Strasbourg but was no match for the world number 12, who is currently operating with her hitting partner as a coach. Sabalenka and doubles specialist Lidziya Marozava were selected for the match, with Sabalenka playing on short rest directly after her last singles match. [71] Without her, Belarus was led by Sabalenka and Sasnovich, neither of whom had ever been ranked above No. [51] She also made the fourth round at the Indian Wells Open. [28], Sabalenka had worked with Khalil Ibrahimov for two years up until early 2018. The following season in October, she won her first two titles in back-to-back weeks in Antalya, both at the $10K level. 'Ridiculous' cold sparks French Open revolt as Wawrinka downs Murray, An Inside Look At Bill And Melinda Gates’ Marriage, Halep into French Open 2nd round; Venus, Goffin out, Svitolina scoops Strasbourg title to land Roland Garros boost, Cowboys DT Trysten Hill's late dirty plays sent Chris Carson limping off in Seahawks loss, Search Luxury Rehab- Not Just Fot The Rich, Straight-sets win for Rafael Nadal as he starts quest for 13th French Open title, Chargers botch potentially winning trick play for walk-in TD vs. Panthers, All the Postseason Teams We Didn’t Bandwagon Yet | The Bandwagon, Thurman Thomas sees Bills' Allen developing into true leader, Jon Gruden struggles to properly wear mask days after drawing $100K fine. In only their second tournament together, Sabalenka and Mertens won the Indian Wells Open. [91][92] Dmitry Tursunov became her primary coach in time for the grass court season in 2018. 53 Tatjana Maria along the way. She has said, "Honestly, I don’t even hear myself when I am playing." Magda Linette beat Pauline Parmentier to set up a tie with second seed Elina Svitolina, while third seed Kiki Bertens will meet Jelena Ostapenko. 13 Sloane Stephens to level the tie after Sasnovich lost her first rubber to No. [11], Sabalenka and Mertens made one more final during the year, finishing runner-up at the Wuhan Open where Sabalenka won the singles title. [22], Despite finishing as runner-up, Belarus's Fed Cup success helped popularize women's tennis in Belarus, and vaulted Sabalenka and Sasnovich into international prominence. 1 Barbora Strýcová. "[2] On clay, she made both the singles and doubles finals at the 2018 Ladies Open Lugano. Due to rain delays in the earlier rounds, she needed to play both the semifinal and the final on the last day of the tournament. [32] Sabalenka lost the final to world No. Without the higher point levels from these bigger tournaments, she had a career-high ranking of just No. Aryna Sabalenka revealed her decision not to take on Dieter Kindlmann as a coach after she cruised to a straight-sets win over Ellen Perez at the Internationaux de Strasbourg. [45], Although Sabalenka once again struggled at the Grand Slam tournaments, she ultimately finished the year with the same year-end ranking as in 2018 on the strength of three titles, all in China. [6][7][8] She did not compete in the main draw of any ITF events until 2013 at the low-level Grade 4 Tallink Cup in Estonia at the age of 15. As the fourth seeds at the event, they made it to the final without having to play another top ten seeded team. [10] This title put her into the top 300 of the WTA rankings for the first time at the start of 2016. [80], Their next tie was again contested in Minsk as part of the World Group Play-offs, with Slovakia competing to take Belarus's place in the World Group the following season. [5], Sabalenka had a late start on the ITF Junior Circuit, instead competing on the U14 and U16 Tennis Europe tours at a younger age. 8 Kiki Bertens in the third round and No. Now that the Bears have made their move at QB, which Nick Foles will they get? Verdasco Says He was Pulled out of Roland Garros for... Sabalenka Hires Dieter Kindlmann as New Coach, After Slow Start, Serena Surges In RG Opener, Thiem Tames Cilic in Roland Garros Opener, Statisfaction: Roland Garros, Day 1, By the Numbers. With Mertens as her partner, she completed the Sunshine Double by winning the two Premier Mandatory tournaments in March, the Indian Wells Open and the Miami Open. [29][25], Sabalenka began the clay court season by reaching a second career final at the Ladies Open Lugano, where she finished runner-up to No. [61] With these two titles, Sabalenka rose to No. [56] She won the final over Alison Riske. [12] She also won her two biggest titles to date at the $50K level. [35] Her coach Dmitry Tursunov credits her improvement in the summer of 2018 on developing better shot selection. [74][75] She was only ranked No. [40][41] The following week, Sabalenka reached the quarterfinals of the China Open, a run that included a win over defending champion and No. On Monday she got past Madison Brengle, 6-1 6-7(5) 6-2. SR=strike rate (events won/competed). She defeated Barty to open the group, but lost to Garcia in the group's final match. [94][95][96] Sabalenka has studied at the Belarusian State University in a sports-related program. I just started crying because it was such an important match. 10 CoCo Vandeweghe. She ultimately never played in the junior Grand Slam tournaments, or any other high-level Grade A and Grade 1 events. Before the event, Sabalenka and Mertens moved up to No. In their opening match, they were upset by Grönefeld and Schuurs in a match tiebreak. Mistakes That Makes American Tourists Stick Out, Cam Newton gives us a GIF-able moment with his incredulous reaction on the Patriots' bench. [17], After losing in qualifying at the US Open, Sabalenka reached her first ever WTA semifinal at the Tashkent Open, defeating 3rd seed and world No. They defeated three of the top five seeds in the event, including second seeds Tímea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic in the first round and top seeds Krejčíková and Siniaková in the final. According to … 9 in singles and No. [30] This success also put her in the top 50 for the first time. 125 at the time of the semifinal, with no career WTA match wins outside of Fed Cup. 4 Caroline Garcia for her eighth top ten victory of the season. She began the season by winning her third career WTA title at the Shenzhen Open, defeating Alison Riske in the final in a tight three-set match. They won the final against sixth seeds Samantha Stosur and Zhang Shuai. [66] After defeating the Chan sisters, Sabalenka and Mertens lost to Babos and Mladenovic in another match tiebreak and did not advance out of their group. Number four seed Sabalenka was in fine form as she made a convincing start to her campaign, taking just over an hour to beat qualifier Perez 6-4 6-3 and move into the second round. 21 in the world. She commented, "This year [in 2017] I played for the first time on grass courts [during Wimbledon]. Sabalenka and Mertens continued to partner together throughout the year, entering eleven events before the year-end championships. 1 player. [65] Their three big titles helped them win the Race to Shenzhen and qualify for the WTA Finals as the top seeds. [11] At the WTA Finals, the pair were placed in a round robin group with third seeds Babos and Mladenovic, fifth seeds Chan Hao-ching and Latisha Chan, as well as eighth seeds Anna-Lena Grönefeld and Demi Schuurs. They defeated three of the top six seeds, including third seeds Hsieh Su-Wei and Barbora Strýcová in the second round. "He's a great guy, great coach, but I'm just not ready. [47][48] She had been considered the third-leading favourite for the title at the Australian Open. [31] Nonetheless, she followed this up by winning the Premier 5 level Wuhan Open, the biggest title of her career. The power and ferocity in her game has been described as "big babe tennis personified". In her Grand Slam debut, she again reached the main draw through qualifying and defeated Irina Khromacheva in the opening round. After a quarterfinal at the Zhengzhou Open, she defended her title at the Premier 5 Wuhan Open. So he took me to the courts. [10][11], Despite some early season success in Fed Cup, Sabalenka had a quiet start to the year otherwise. [37] Playing a fourth consecutive week, she closed out this part of the season with her best result at a Grand Slam tournament to date, making it to the fourth round at the US Open. [76], —Sabalenka on her Fed Cup rubber win over Stephens. "[2] Her groundstrokes are often hit very flat. 11 in the world. 19 Svetlana Kuznetsova. [69][70], The ties in the quarterfinals against the Netherlands in February and the semifinals against Switzerland in April both played out in the same way. World rankings – Top ten tennis players as of week of 21 September 2020, 2017: Fed Cup heroics, WTA 125K title, top 100, 2018: Newcomer of the Year, Premier 5 title, 2019: Top 10 debut in singles, world No. [62] They then reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, losing to third seeds Hsieh and Strýcová. Sabalenka won her first Grand Slam title in doubles at the 2019 US Open alongside Elise Mertens. With her height, she also has a very strong serve. However, she has expressed her hopes that her grunting has no disturbance on her opponents. Sabalenka and Sasnovich each split their two singles rubbers, with Sabalenka being upset by Viktória Kužmová. "Last week, I lost in qualies in Rome and it was not a good match, so I learned from that," Hibino said after the match. She has said "I hope all my shots can be strong, but my serve, I feel is the best. 11 in the world in singles. Sabalenka continued to excel in singles in 2019 with three titles in China, highlighted by a defense of her Wuhan Open title at the Premier 5 level and by winning the WTA Elite Trophy at the end of the year. [18][19] A few weeks later, she entered the Tianjin Open as the 119th-ranked player in the world, but managed to reach her first WTA final. Aryna Sabalenka cruised past Ellen Perez in Strasbourg, subsequently confirming she had decided against taking on coach Dieter Kindlmann. She only played in one tournament in 2015, the European Junior Championships. [11][72] However, they did have the advantage of playing all of their ties at home in Minsk. [49] Nonetheless, she made her top 10 debut following the event. [90] At the Australian Open, the home crowd mocked her habit in a match against Australian Ashleigh Barty. Perez was last year's doubles champion in Strasbourg but was no match for the world number 12, who is currently operating with her hitting partner as a coach. [11] At the two Premier 5 tournaments, she reached the third round at the Canadian Open and the semifinals at the Cincinnati Open. Sasnovich said, "When we played the quarterfinals and semifinals in Minsk, a lot of people were coming to see our matches. [78][77] The next day began with Sabalenka losing to Vandeweghe, before Sasnovich again leveled the tie by defeating Stephens. [28] She then won her first matches at a Premier tournament with a third round appearance at the Indian Wells Open before the early-year hard court season came to a close, including a victory over No. Sabalenka and Mertens defeated Azarenka and Barty in straight sets for their first career Grand Slam title in any discipline. During the event, she upset No. [11] That year, she made her Fed Cup debut in April, losing her only match. ", (W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (NH) not held. [23] The title cemented her at No. In 2014, she excelled at Grade 4 events. [12], The Belarus Fed Cup team made their debut in the World Group and ultimately reached the final, despite being the underdogs in all three ties. [46] However, she could not build on this success in the rest of the first half of the year. Aryna Sabalenka now working with Dieter Kindlmann, who hopes to join her soon in the US. [81] Doubles specialists Lapko and Marozava were chosen for the final rubber and the pair won the match to keep Belarus in the World Group for 2019. 20 Elise Mertens. She won her first professional match at the very end of 2014 in Istanbul. [31] Sabalenka had stronger results on grass, playing in tune-ups during each of the three weeks before Wimbledon. There were also victories for Elena Rybakina, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Alize Cornet, Shuai Zhang and Katerina Siniakova. 5 Caroline Garcia before losing to world No. Svitolina e OUT de la All England Club", "Surging Sabalenka wraps up Wozniacki comeback in Montreal", "Halep stops Sabalenka to return to Cincinnati final", "Final-ly: Aryna Sabalenka, thrice a runner-up, wins first WTA title", "Sabalenka overpowers Kvitova to storm into US Open fourth round", "Osaka outlasts Sabalenka in US Open fourth-round thriller", "Sabalenka savors 'special' Svitolina win in Wuhan", "Sabalenka soars past Barty to start Zhuhai campaign", "Garcia beats Sabalenka to send Barty to Zhuhai SF", "2018 WTA Newcomer of the Year: Aryna Sabalenka", "Sizzling Sabalenka sinks Riske to win Shenzhen", "Amanda Anisimova, 17, played like a veteran in win over Sabalenka", "2019 WTA Australian Open Odds, Betting Preview: Serena Williams Favored in Melbourne", "First Wimbledon seed out: Aryna Sabalenka's struggles continue", "Bertens solves Sabalenka to book St. Petersburg final spot", "Kerber survives Sabalenka surge to reach Indian Wells quarterfinals", "Sabalenka blitzes Barty, returns to Wuhan final: 'It feels even better than last year, "Back to back: Sabalenka beats Riske to defend Wuhan title", "Aryna Sabalenka edges out doubles partner Elise Mertens to take WTA Elite Trophy semi-final place", "Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka Capture 2019 BNP Paribas Open Doubles Title", "Mertens & Sabalenka win 10th straight match to claim Miami title and Sunshine Double", "Mladenovic seals doubles No.1, place in French Open final with Babos", "Hsieh, Strycova finesse tames Mertens, Sabalenka firepower to reach Wimbledon SFs", "Mertens, Sabalenka capture first Grand Slam title in women's doubles at US Open", "Kudermetova and Duan win Wuhan in team debut: 'It's an unbelievable week, "Groenefeld, Schuurs make up for lost time at WTA Finals: 'It's something we can be proud of, "Babos-Mladenovic move into semifinals as WTA Finals doubles draw takes shape", "USA move into finals of Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup", "Fed Cup Semifinals Preview: which teams will reach the final?