Jimmy Connors Believes Aryna Sabalenka Has to Prove Herself Following Her Poor Run of Form

Tennis legend Jimmy Connors has revealed that Aryna Sabalenka has to start proving herself on the court after the Belarusian star crashed out in the fourth round of the Wimbledon Championships. Sabalenka has not been the same player tennis fans have known since winning the Sunshine Double in March.

After winning the Indian Wells and Miami Open, Sabalenka was already on three titles this season and four finals. But she has not been able to make it to another final since. She failed to defend her Madrid Open title, losing to Hailey Baptiste in the quarter-finals. She then crashed out early at the Italian Open after losing to Sorana Cirstea.

There were hopes that things would get better at the French Open, a tournament she was the favorite to win. But yet again, she lost to a player ranked outside the Top 20 in the quarter-finals. At the Berlin Tennis Open, she reached the semi-finals but lost to Jessica Pegula in three sets, dropping the third 0-6.

Things didn’t get any better for Sabalenka at Wimbledon. Sabalenka lost to four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka in the round of 16 of the grass-court major, making it the first time since 2022 that she has failed to reach the quarter-finals of a major tournament.

Her last Grand Slam triumph came at the US Open last year, where she defeated Amanda Anisimova in the final. This year, she’s yet to win a major title and has not been performing well at the big events. In a conversation on Advantage Connors’ podcast, Jimmy Connors pointed out that Sabalenka’s recent slip will now force her to prove herself once again on the court:

Sabalenka is going to have to start proving herself to me now. I don’t know what to say now about her. We’ve talked about her for so long and she’s got us on this rollercoaster ride… the ups and the downs. Because we know she’s got the game, she has proven that, the way she plays. I mean, I would like to have an answer. I just don’t.

Sabalenka is known for her ferocious forehand shots and powerful serves. But that seems to be lacking in recent matches. Players are gaining an advantage over her on the court, and she has now begun to lose matches that go beyond straight sets, something she rarely does on the court. Perhaps she needs to change a couple of things in her game ahead of the North American hard-court swing.

Aryna Sabalenka opens the door for Elena Rybakina’s challenge in the WTA rankings

Aryna Sabalenka is likely to lose her top spot position in the WTA rankings before the season comes to an end. In fact, she would have dropped to World No.2 if Elena Rybakina had reached the final of the Wimbledon Championships. Sabalenka has spent 91 straight weeks at World No.1, but the gap between her and Rybakina is less than 500 points.

Rybakina currently has 8,143 WTA points, while Sabalenka has 8,550, which means only 407 points separate the two players. However, Rybakina will defend just 1,125 points across this North American hard-court swing, while Sabalenka will defend 2,125 points over the same period.

Most of Sabalenka’s ranking points will come at the US Open in August, while Rybakina’s points will come at the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Open, where she reached the semi-finals last year. However, Rybakina is not currently on the entry list for the Washington Open, a tournament that begins on July 27.

Rybakina played at the event last year, so she will not defend 195 WTA ranking points. That will then extend Sabalenka’s lead to 602 points over the Kazakhstan star. Nonetheless, Rybakina will be eyeing the US Open, which has her favorite hard court surface, as a tournament she can earn valuable points to topple Sabalenka from the World No.1 position.

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