{"id":7931,"date":"2026-01-31T19:36:35","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T14:06:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/2026\/01\/31\/she-basically-capitulated-is-sabalenka-underachieving-at-the-slams\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T19:36:35","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T14:06:35","slug":"she-basically-capitulated-is-sabalenka-underachieving-at-the-slams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/2026\/01\/31\/she-basically-capitulated-is-sabalenka-underachieving-at-the-slams\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;She basically capitulated&#8217; &#8211; is Sabalenka underachieving at the Slams?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/topics\/crm3j119x37t\">Jonathan Jurejko<\/a>BBC Sport tennis news reporter in Melbourne<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Published24 minutes ago<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Aryna Sabalenka has been the dominant force in women&#x27;s tennis for the past two seasons.<\/p>\n<p>With baseline power anchoring her game, the 27-year-old Belarusian has pummelled opponents on the way to nine WTA titles and created a clear gap at the top of the world rankings.<\/p>\n<p>Yet there are still questions about Sabalenka&#x27;s big-game mentality &#8211; and with justifiable cause after her latest loss in a major final.<\/p>\n<p>Sabalenka admirably fought back in Saturday&#x27;s Australian Open showpiece against Kazakhstan&#x27;s Elena Rybakina and led 3-0 in the decider, only to end up losing 4-6 6-4 4-6.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;I felt that Sabalenka really beat herself up in that final set,&quot; former British number one Annabel Croft said on BBC Radio 5 Live.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;The minute panic set in she just steamrolled in the wrong direction.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Sabalenka&#x27;s four Grand Slam titles are more than most people can dream of.<\/p>\n<p>But having lost four other finals, there is an inescapable feeling that the world number one is not quite fulfilling her potential on the sport&#x27;s grandest stages.<\/p>\n<p>Six losses in major semi-finals &#8211; including at last year&#x27;s Wimbledon &#8211; also add to the noise.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Right now I don&#x27;t want to think about tennis, but my ambitions are still the same,&quot; Sabalenka said.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Keep fighting, keep working hard, keep putting myself out there, and try my best if I&#x27;ll have another chance in the final.&quot;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"\/sport\/tennis\/articles\/c4gr39d9146o\">\n<p>Rybakina beats Sabalenka for first Australian Open title<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Published1 hour ago<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/sounds\/play\/p0myb2bb\">\n<p>Australian Open Daily: Elena Rybakina wins first Australian Open title<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Sabalenka has produced a consistency at the majors that is unrivalled in the women&#x27;s game.<\/p>\n<p>With a style that translates across all surfaces, she has reached 13 semi-finals in her past 14 Slam appearances.<\/p>\n<p>Such a record was unthinkable in her early days on tour.<\/p>\n<p>At that time Sabalenka had a reputation as a player lacking the mental resilience needed to become a serial winner. <\/p>\n<p>Things clicked into place before the 2023 season.<\/p>\n<p>Remodelling her serve with the guidance of biomechanics expert Gavin McMillan proved vital in cutting down on the double faults that had plagued her.<\/p>\n<p>She also worked with a psychologist before realising the changes had to come from within.<\/p>\n<p>Possessing a slightly calmer demeanour helped Sabalenka land her first major when she beat Rybakina in the 2023 Australian Open final.<\/p>\n<p>With the pressure uncorked, she continued to play freer on her way to retaining the  Melbourne title in 2024, then earned back-to-back victories at the 2024 and 2025 US Opens.<\/p>\n<p>There have also been wobbles, though.<\/p>\n<p>Sabalenka was the heavy favourite to beat unseeded American underdog Madison Keys and claim a third straight Melbourne title, but the instability of her second serve returned in a three-set defeat.<\/p>\n<p>At the French Open she played what she described as the &quot;worst final&quot; of her life, hitting 70 unforced errors in windy conditions.<\/p>\n<p>Her performance against Rybakina &#8211; who was bidding for a second major title after her 2022 Wimbledon win &#8211; was far from disastrous. <\/p>\n<p>In fact, there had been signs she was maintaining her composure until fifth seed Rybakina broke back in the deciding set.<\/p>\n<p>Out of nowhere, errors streamed from both wings as Sabalenka lost serve again for 4-3 and her focus further unravelled.<\/p>\n<p>At one point she dropped her racquet and kicked it across the court in frustration. <\/p>\n<p>Rybakina, meanwhile, remained ice-cool and served out with the aid of two aces for her second major title.<\/p>\n<p>Asked why she felt she lost momentum in the decider, Sabalenka said: &quot;It was great tennis from her. Maybe not so smart for me.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Today I&#x27;m a loser, maybe tomorrow I&#x27;m a winner, maybe again a loser. Let&#x27;s see.&quot;<\/p>\n<h2>&#x27;Sabalenka was composed then lost composure&#x27; &#8211; more analysis<\/h2>\n<p>Annabel Croft, former British number one, on BBC Radio 5 Live: &quot;I think the composure Sabalenka had for most of the match got her to 3-0 in the final set. <\/p>\n<p>&quot;I felt that she had really taken her game to another level, but she couldn&#x27;t keep forging ahead because there was resistance down the other end. <\/p>\n<p>&quot;Then the arms started flailing and it got a little bit immature out there. <\/p>\n<p>&quot;She wasn&#x27;t handling the situation well, she was strutting around and she lost her composure completely.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Pat Cash, Australian 1987 Wimbledon champion, on BBC Radio 5 Live: &quot;Sabalenka was very effective on the first serve in the second set, barely dropping a point when she got the return in.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Rybakina did have some wobbles on her forehand in the semi-final, but other than that it was clean ball-striking. <\/p>\n<p>&quot;Sabalenka will go away with a lot of things to think about &#8211; she basically capitulated.&quot;<\/p>\n<h2>Related topics<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"\/sport\/tennis\">Tennis<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>More on this story<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"\/sport\/tennis\/scores-and-schedule\">\n<p>Live scores, results and order of play<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/sport\/articles\/cl5q9dk9jl3o\">\n<p>Get tennis news sent straight to your phone<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Published16 August 2025<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#x27;She basically capitulated&#x27; &#8211; is Sabalenka underachieving at the Slams?Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Aryna Sabalenka has won four and lost four of her Grand Slam finalsByJonathan&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":7932,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-decor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}