“It’s a mental thing” – Sabalenka gearing up for impending battle for No 1 with Swiatek

Having spent some of her off-season attending the Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix, Aryna Sabalenka will get her own taste of being in pole position once the new tennis year gets underway in five days’ time.

For the first time in the Belarusian’s career, she will start the season as the WTA’s No 1 player. Having clinched the top spot at the end of 2024 after dethroning long-time leader of the pack, Iga Swiatek, Sabalenka now has the added pressure of being the hunted rather than the hunter.

The world No 1 has a healthy lead of 1121 points over second-placed Swiatek, but will open the season with 2000 points to defend at the Australian Open as she seeks to become the first woman since Martina Hingis in 1999 to claim three consecutive titles in Melbourne.

sabalenka targeting Australian open three-peat

But for a player who so heavily dominated hard-court tennis in 2024, this aim is well within Sabalenka’s sights.

“It would mean a lot,” she told The National newspaper from her off-season training base in Abu Dhabi.

“I think the key is just to focus on yourself and on bringing your best each time you play, whether it’s Australia or any other country, you just have to bring your best every time and hope for the best.

“Sometimes when I feel like I need that drive, which is not very often, I just remember where I started and how much I wanted to be where I am right now and that drives me crazy and that’s what helps me to stay motivated and stay hungry all the time.”

Despite possessing strong inner motivation and oozing both confidence and quality in abundance on hard courts, Sabalenka is under no illusion as to the size of the task ahead of her when it comes to maintaining a grip on her No 1 ranking.

There is little doubt that the Belarusian has the level required to remain at the summit of the women’s game, but when it comes to the rankings race, Sabalenka believes there is more to it than who merely can play the best tennis.

“You cannot be confident on that. It’s a mental thing,” she explained.

“Of course I’d like to stay there as long as possible and I’m working really hard for that, so let’s see how next season is going to be.”

uncharted territory for new world no 1 sabalenka

How Sabalenka reacts mentally to the unique pressures of opening the season as the world’s top-ranked player remains to be seen.

Should she successfully defend all her ranking points in Australia, then she will have ample opportunity to extend her lead in the following months, with Swiatek the defending champion in Indian Wells and looking to hold onto a mountain of points across the spring-time clay-court stretch.

But, for now, attention will be solely tuned on the imminent task at hand. For Sabalenka, the Australian-summer swing will rightly attract all of her focus.

As she returns to the site of her greatest success as both the two-time defending champion and the world No 1 for the first time, Sabalenka will be well aware that, as 2025 gets underway, she will have a greater target on her back than at any other point in her career thus far.

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