Serena Williams to drop out of the top 10 rankings yet again, courtesy Aryna Sabalenka

Serena Williams to drop out of the top 10 rankings yet again, courtesy Aryna Sabalenka
Serena Williams

Serena Williams has been suffering from a long struggle with injuries ever since 2017. The legendary American’s world rankings haven’t been consistent in quite a while. She has also failed to finish inside the year-end top 10 since 2017.

Now, she may be resigned to yet another year-end finish outside the top 10, as Aryna Sabalenka has overtaken her to no. 10.

Serena Williams hasn’t won a Grand Slam since 2017

The American hasn’t been doing as well as she would like, with injuries taking their toll on her performance

The 39-year-old Serena Williams had had an injury-ridden 2016 season, after which she took a break from tennis. Upon her return in 2017, her form just wasn’t the same as before. She has failed to win any Grand Slam title since then, still stuck at 23 titles.

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Williams was looking to make a comeback this season, reaching the semifinals of the US Open. However, she hurt herself during that match, contributing to a three-sets loss against Victoria Azarenka. She was forced to call off her 2020 season after injuring her Achilles tendon in the French Open.

These setbacks resulted in the American sitting currently at 4080 ranking points, putting her in 10th place. However, Aryna Sabalenka had plans of her own.

Sabalenka blew away Voegele in straight sets

Aryna Sabalenka

Aryna Sabalenka is enjoying a great season, winning the singles title in Qatar and both the singles and doubles title at Ostrava. Before the currently-ongoing Linz Open, the Belarusian was sitting at 11th on the list, 35 points behind Serena Williams.

The top seed at Linz, Sabalenka needed at least two wins to guarantee herself a spot in the top 10 (and overtake Serena). Her first-round match was a comfortable win coming against Italian Jasmine Paolini. Her second match was against a relatively trickier opponent – Stefanie Voegele.

The first set of the match was a masterclass in domination by Sabalenka. She ruthlessly powered through the set in just 26 minutes, handing over a bagel to Voegele. Her forehands and blistering returns ensured no chance was given to her Swiss opponent.

Moving forward, however, Voegele showed some signs of life. She managed to take her first game of the match in the second game of the second set. She continuously threatened Sabalenka with break point opportunities. However, the Belarusian was able to stave off 6 break points on the way to a commanding 4-1 lead. While Voegele was able to take two more games, Sabalenko was unstoppable and served out the set, and match, for a comfortable victory.

Her win against Voegele spelled trouble for Serena Williams, as she has now gained at least 60 more ranking points (more if she wins her next matches). Thus, Sabalenka will pass Serena Williams to take the world no. 10 position from the American.

With Williams skipping the entirety of this season, she has no way to catch up to Sabalenka. The Belarusian has thus guaranteed herself the year-end no. 10 spot.

Also read: WTA Linz Open 2020: Aryna Sabalenka vs Océane Dodin Preview, Head-to-Head and Prediction