“She’s much better but she can still improve” – Coach Dubrov on Sabalenka

Dubrov says the focus for now is to recover before setting new goals for the rest of the season

Aryna Sabalenka with coach Anton Dubrov, Linz 2020 Image Credit: Zuma / Panoramic

September 17, 2024

Aryna Sabalenka picked up her third Grand Slam title, and her second of the season, at the US Open earlier this month. The Belarusian is also in a good position to challenge Iga Swiatek for the world No 1 ranking at the end of the season.

But her coach, Anton Dubrov, believes the 26-year-old still has a lot of room to improve, from her movement to the mental and technical aspects of her game.

“Honestly, like everything,” Dubrov said in an interview to The National when asked what Sabalenka could improve upon. “Starting with the movement, with the mental part also, there are things she can improve. She’s much better but she can still improve. And the technical part you never stop. Because there is always room to improve. And as you can see from all the champions, from their careers, the way they were on top all the time, if you look how they were at 18 and how they were at 35, it’s like two completely different people, so there’s always something to improve.”

“The main goal for us this season is to finish on a high note” – Dubrov

Aryna Sabalenka, US Open 2024 Image Credit: Antoine Couvercelle / Panoramic

While Sabalenka did say in a recent interview that she would like to reclaim the world No 1 spot, Dubrov believes that the Belarusian needs to recover from the successful American hardcourt stretch before focusing on new goals.

“The goal is first to be fit and healthy, because it’s going to take a while to recover. The main goal for us this season is to finish on a high note,” said Dubrov. “Right now, I would say we can talk about the No 1 spot, to finish the year as No 1 is a really cool goal. But as I said, this (American hardcourt stretch) took so much energy and emotions so first of all we need to also learn how we can recover as fast as we can and set those goals.”

Sabalenka is expected to return to the tour at the WTA 1000 China Open in Beijing next week where all the of thew world’s top 10 ranked women are entered.