Jimmy Connors Questions Aryna Sabalenka’s “Attitude” Heading into Wimbledon

Aryna Sabalenka’s form heading into the Wimbledon Championships has been questioned by former World No.1 Jimmy Connors. The Belarusian has yet to reach a tournament final since March and has struggled in tournaments that she was the favorite to win. With the grass-court Grand Slam coming up next week, she’s still the favorite, but Connors believes she’s far from her best.

After Sabalenka won the Indian Wells Open and Miami Open, she was dubbed to dominate the rest of the months on tour as Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina were struggling to be at their best in the later stages of events. Fast forward to today, Sabalenka has not reached another tournament final.

She lost to Hailey Baptiste at the Madrid Open, a tournament she won last year. She then suffered an early exit at the Italian Open after losing to Sorana Cirstea in three sets. At the French Open, she was the overwhelming favorite to win the clay major title, but shockingly fell to Diana Shnaider in the quarter-finals.

After a week’s break, the 28-year-old returned to the court at the Berlin Tennis Open. Sabalenka won just two matches before losing to Jessica Pegula in the semi-finals. In her last five matches on tour, she has won just three, and she’s still regarded as the player to beat at Wimbledon.

Sabalenka is yet to reach a final at the All England Club, and last year got to the semi-finals before Amanda Anisimova defeated her in three sets. In the latest episode of the Advantage Connors podcast, Jimmy Connors pointed out that he’s not confident that Sabalenka will win Wimbledon because her recent performance has not been at her usual standards:

I look at Sabalenka, and she’s once again the favourite. But I look at our conversations over the past weeks and see where her attitude is. Can she wipe all that aside too? And go on a different surface and take that air, that confidence that we’re normally used to seeing from her out into this tournament that, as you said, she’s never won before.

Besides Sabalenka’s recent losses, one thing has been evident in her on-court game. In her past four losses, she failed to play well in the third set. She suffered a bagel in the third set against Shnaider and Pegula, while losing her first third-set tiebreak in more than four months against Baptiste in Madrid.

Jimmy Connors says Aryna Sabalenka looks beatable on the court

Aryna Sabalenka will need to change something in her game for her results to get better on the court, as her opponents might have gotten used to her strategy. The World No.1 is known for her powerful serve and forehand shots, but recently, players have been using drop shots, forcing her out of her baseline.

However, Sabalenka will aim to challenge for the Wimbledon Championship by giving her best on the court. She didn’t compete in Eastbourne or Bad Homburg this week ahead of the tournament kick-off on June 29. During the aforementioned conversation, Jimmy Connors concluded that Sabalenka has become beatable in the last few weeks on tour:

We keep saying it, she’s got the game. But the next three or four or five names that you mentioned there see that she is beatable and you know, just go out and walk out there and take care of your business. Sometimes, a lot of good things happen.

Sabalenka will face a qualifier or a wildcard player in the opening round of Wimbledon. Some analysts have projected that she might face Serena Williams, who was handed a wildcard for the singles event, having returned to the tour from retirement. Williams has played in just two tournaments in the doubles category.

Also Read: Andy Roddick Claims ‘There’s No Upside’ for Aryna Sabalenka If She Plays Serena Williams at Wimbledon