Every now and again, Aryna Sabalenka catches sight of a recording of one of her old matches, back in the days before she became a Grand Slam champion in Melbourne last year. It’s not something she necessarily enjoys but it has an important role to play; it makes her realise just how far she’s come.
“I see that sometimes,” she said with a laugh at Australian Open 2024 on Tuesday.
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“I'm not super-proud of myself doing some things on court. (But) it was part of my journey, and I'm actually happy that I faced those kind of challenges and I'm happy that I was able to fix that and to become more calm on court. It's been really huge work, and I'm happy that I was able to fix that.”
Take a look at one of those recordings, and it’s remarkable how far Sabalenka has come. Where once she would smash racquets at will, now she is largely serene on court, in control of her emotions. Where once she would rant and rave, looking as if her world was caving in, now she takes a breath, resets herself and moves on.
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There is still the odd release of tension, such as at the US Open last year when she smashed a number of racquets in the locker room after losing to Coco Gauff in the final. But by and large, Sabalenka is a different person on the court to the one who struggled for so long to cope with the pressure, who thought she should be winning Grand Slams but then who buckled, her fragile second serve breaking down time and time again.
Now, Sabalenka is a consistent, brilliant performer, one who is almost a sure-fire bet to make the latter stages of slams. Her win over Barbora Krejcikova at Melbourne Park on Tuesday was all about power and control, the former French Open champion simply outplayed throughout.
“I think my mindset, that I'm not getting crazy on court, I'm not rushing things,” Sabalenka said, asked about the biggest change in her over the past couple of years.
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“I'm just playing point by point and that's it, and fighting for every point without overthinking about my dreams, about what I want to do, about how many slams I want to win and all that stuff."
Sabalenka said she had been using a sports psychologist for several years, but though she found it helpful for a while, she needed to fix things herself.
“I was able to separate myself from that kind of mentality and just start focusing on myself and focusing on things I can improve and I can get better in, and what I actually have to do to win every match I play," she said.
“When you're working with a psychologist, at some point it's really helping, especially for young players, (who are) just starting playing on the tour.
“But then at some point you start kind of expecting somebody to help you. You're not fixing your problems by yourself, you're expecting somebody to help you with that.
“I just decided at some point, I need to figure out by myself how to start to control myself better. And I think that decision was the biggest decision for me and I started actually taking responsibility for everything I'm doing, and it's really helped me to become more controlled on court.”
The results have been transformative. Sabalenka has reached the semifinals or better in her past six Grand Slams, only the fourth woman to achieve that this century. At AO 2024, she has dropped just 16 games in five matches, with no opponent winning more than three games in a set.
It was here 12 months ago that all the hard work paid off when Sabalenka won her first Grand Slam title. In this kind of mood, with this kind of mindset, few would bet against her doing it again.