Aryna Sabalenka ‘desperate’ to become world No. 1 with US Open success - John McEnroe
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Updated 03/09/2023 at 10:52 GMT
As Aryna Sabalenka plots to become the No. 1 player in the world with success at the US Open, Eurosport’s John McEnroe says it would be “absolutely amazing” to see the Belarusian go one spot further than her current rank of second. As a former world No. 1 himself, McEnroe thinks Sabalenka will be “desperate” to finally take top spot, especially because of the obstacles she has had to overcome.
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Eurosport tennis expert John McEnroe is backing Aryna Sabalenka to become world No. 1 in what would be an “absolutely amazing” achievement.
Currently ranked second in the world, Sabalenka is in the fourth round of the US Open - where she has reached the semi-finals for the last two years - after wins against Maryna Zanevska, Brit Jodie Burrage and Clara Burel.
Sabalenka, 25, can overtake current world No. 1 Iga Switak if she equals the Pole’s final result in New York.
Asked whether Sabalenka would be thinking about becoming the world No. 1 at this stage of the tournament or whether she would just block it out of her mind, McEnroe reckons it will be somewhere in the middle.
“I think she can’t help but think about it because people bring it up,” he told Eurosport. “I think she was a match away at Roland Garros, if she had won that semi-final match that could have put her temporarily at No. 1.
“Her and Iga [Swiatek] have been going back and forth for quite a while in terms of the rankings. She’s desperate to try and get over the hump and finally at least call herself at some point the No. 1-ranked player in the world. It would be absolutely amazing.”
Sabalenka struggled with yips on her serve at the beginning of 2022, a mental block that she described as “overthinking” when serving, which plunged her career into doubt.
She would make a high number of double faults per match as she struggled to find her serve, but eventually overcame the problem in time for the Australian Open 12 months later, which she went on to win.
“Considering where she was a couple of years ago when she had the yips, and you’re wondering if she could ever get that serve together, I think it’s amazing what Sabalenka has done," McEnroe said.
“Winning the Australian Open, she feels so much more confident and believes in herself now. You can feel it.”
After dropping just two games in her hour-long third-round match against Burel, Sabalenka is eyeing up a match at the Arthur Ashe Stadium as she prepares for her next test against Daria Kasatkina for a spot in the quarter-finals.
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