Olympic Gold Medalist Thinks Aryna Sabalenka Should Seek Psychologist’s Help Amid Form Slump

Aryna Sabalenka once relied heavily on her psychologist to manage her on-court emotions. But she decided to part ways in 2023 because she was repeating the same mistakes and expected her psychologist to fix her problems.

But following her defeat to Diana Shnaider in the quarterfinal of this year’s French Open, Sabalenka decided to seek her old psychologist’s help to talk about everything she had been going through.

Monica Puig, the 2016 Olympic gold medalist, thinks the four-time Grand Slam singles champion should call her psychologist again, as it may help her understand why she gets so frustrated so early in matches.

She said, ‘I know myself better than anybody else. I know what I need, I don’t need a psychologist’. And you know what, good for her. Because there are a lot of people who can’t figure that out, I couldn’t figure that out on my own. But maybe she needs to go back to that and sit with herself and do a little bit of self-reflection: ‘Why am I getting so worked up and angry so early on in matches?’ You know when you read a book, you can’t tell what’s going to happen at the end of the book from the first chapter.

Monica Puig said on the Inside-In podcast

Sabalenka is going through a difficult phase because a player like her, who used to reach finals and win titles one after the other, is now struggling to make deep runs. Since winning her third title of the season in Miami, Sabalenka has played just one final, at the US Open, where Elena Rybakina ruined her three-peat goal.

Why am I getting so flustered in the first couple of games in the match when the whole match hasn’t played itself out yet? And her being as a good a competitor, tennis player, and probably the best and hardest ball-striker out there, that’s something she needs to sit with herself and be like, ‘Okay, what do I need?’

Monica Puig added

Sabalenka lifted three titles this season: Brisbane International, Indian Wells Open, and the Miami Open. She also reached the final of the Australian Open but lost the title to Rybakina.

Iga Swiatek beats Aryna Sabalenka’s conqueror to reach the Wuhan Open semifinals

Since her defeat to Elena Rybakina in the US Open final, Aryna Sabalenka has played two tournaments, losing in the early rounds of both. At the China Open, Nikola Bartunkova knocked her out in the third round, while at the Wuhan Open, she lost to Ann Li in the opening round. In Wuhan, Sabalenka is a three-time champion and lost for the first time before reaching the semifinals.

After upsetting the World No.2, Li eliminated Janice Tjen before scheduling the match against Iga Swiatek. The Pole breezed past the American 6-4, 6-1 in the quarterfinals and reached the semifinals of this tournament for the first time.

Swiatek will next be locking horns with countrywoman Maja Chwalinska, who, this year, reached her career’s first Grand Slam final at the French Open, only to lose easily to Mirra Andreeva.

The former World No. 1 is doing everything she can to secure a spot at the WTA Finals, scheduled for November 8 to 15. After the final WTA 1000 event of the season, the 25-year-old is scheduled to participate in the Ningbo Open and then the Pan Pacific Open Tennis.

Since making her debut in the year-end championship in 2021, Swiatek has qualified for the event every season, winning in 2023 by beating Jessica Pegula. But in the previous two seasons, she failed to reach the quarterfinals.

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