Aryna Sabalenka admits it is probably fair to exclude her at the moment from the “WTA Big Three” since she has been playing poorly over the last two months.
Since finishing as runner-up in Brisbane and winning the Australian Open, Sabalenka has won back-to-back matches just once. After losing to Donna Vekic in her Dubai opener, Sabalenka lost in the Indian Wells round-of-16 before concluding her Sunshine Double with a third-round exit in Miami. Last week, Sabalenka made it past her Stuttgart before losing to Marketa Vondrousova in the quarterfinal.
While Sabalenka has been struggling, Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina have been doing pretty well. Over the last two months, Swiatek has won two WTA 1000 titles, while Rybakina won WTA 500 events in Abu Dhabi and Stuttgart while also finishing as runner-up in Miami and Doha.
“I feel like I kind of dropped my level a little bit (to be part of) the ‘big three’, I feel like it’s been a ‘big two’ in the last month,” Sabalenka said.
Aryna Sabalenka © Getty Images Sport – Alex Grimm
Sabalenka hopes to turn the page around in Madrid
This week, Sabalenka is set to kick off her Madrid Open title defense. As the second-seeded player, Sabalenka will start with a first-round bye and play against the winner of the match between Magda Linette and Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the second round.
Sabalenka isn’t entering in Madrid in great form but her plan is to leave it all out there and hope that something good will come out if.
“I would say that I’m pretty sure that I’ll be there and I’ll be fighting for every point and if I have an opportunity, I’m sure I’m going to take it. That’s my mentality going into the clay season this year,” Sabalenka said.
Aryna Sabalenka © Getty Images Sport – Julian Finney
In Madrid, Sabalenka is a two-time champion and it is safe to say that she enjoys the conditions at Caja Magica.
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