“An extra motivation for me” – Sabalenka using pressure of world No 1 status as inspiration to improve
Aryna Sabalenka will become the new world No 1 next week, regardless of her finish at the ongoing US Open
Aryna Sabalenka US Open 2023 – Zuma / Panoramic
Aryna Sabalenka is on the cusp of a remarkable double achievement.
Having already secured her status as the new world No 1 when the rankings are updated next week, the reigning Australian Open champion would love nothing more than to book-end her Grand Slam season with a second major win at the US Open.
It would be more than an appropriate way to celebrate the coronation of the WTA’s new queen of the pack, and one that would boldly underline the Belarusian’s arrival at the very top of sport.
Sabalenka, in an outlook that goes against the trend of most of her peers, is not shy to admit that the weight of the achievements in her grasp will be on her mind over the next few days.
Sabalenka revelling in the weight of the occasion
“I mean, I think that’s normal,” she explained in her post-match press conference following a comprehensive quarter-final win over Qinwen Zheng.
“I think when you get to this last stages of the tournament, anyway, you’re going to think about what if, what I want, what I would like, and you’re, like, dreaming.
“Yeah, I’m not trying to block the stats, because when you’re trying to block something, it’s going to keep getting in your head and it’s can get really annoying. When you’re not trying to block it, it actually goes away, you know.
“I know that I have to do my job. I have to go on court. I have to play my best tennis. I have to fight for it. I know that if I’ll be there, if I’ll be fighting for my dream, I know that I can get it. So I’m, like, I’m not trying to block these stats.”
It is a refreshing admission from a player who will face immense psychological pressure over the next few days.
The status quo for players is usually to block out any sense of occasion – or at least, not to acknowledge it publicly.
But Aryna Sabalenka is built differently, and she finds hiding in plain sight of history as the best form of protecting herself from the weight of expectation.
World No 1 ranking acting as extra motivation for Sabalenka
Regardless of how the rest of the tournament plays out, it has already been a momentous US Open for the current world No 2.
With Iga Swiatek’s loss to Ostapenko in the fourth round, Sabalenka will be crowned the new world No 1 next Monday – a status she has fully earned through a superb season of consistency that has culminated in yet another exceptional run to the last of a Grand Slam, her fifth in a row.
Again, rather than shying away from the achievement, Sabalenka insists that having a target on her back will only seek to motivate her to improve.
“It’s an extra motivation for me.
“You know, seeing them, like, really trying their best to beat me, it’s, like, an extra power and energy for me to keep playing, keep pushing, keep getting better.”
With renewed success, comes renewed pressure.
For ‘The Tiger’, as Sabalenka is affectionately nicknamed, this pressure only serves as yet another asset in the glittering array of tools at her disposal.
Aryna Sabalenka, therefore, may well prove to be a very difficult world No 1 to dislodge.
