“I start probably overthinking, and because of that I start kind of like losing my power,” that’s what Aryna Sabalenka said after her disappointing defeat at the US Open last year against Coco Gauff. The Belarusian player, who is known for her hard-court heroics just didn’t have any answers to the 20-year-old Gauff at that point. But, who would have thought that it could become the turning point of her career? By winning the Australian Open title right at the start of this year and now the US Open title, Sabalenka has become an undisputed force on the hard courts. Alexandra Stevenson, a former American pro, agrees.

In her recent podcast, Stevenson talked about Aryna Sabalenka and how the loss to Gauff last year fueled her. While she suggested that the current world number 2 had her moments in that final, the Belarusian could not capitalize and eventually stumbled. “Aryna’s won the Australian Open, but last year she lost the US Open to Coco Gauff. She was up, she had her moments and Coco just dug in, run, ran everything down, made her serve work, had her high forehand. Was playing that defensive, winning tennis right, running it down, getting every shot playing to win. She took Sabalenka out mentally,” Stevenson said in the podcast.

However, instead of taking it as a setback, Sabalenka decided to work on her drawbacks. She went through the disappointment and then avenged the loss, defeating Coco Gauff in the semi-finals of the Australian Open in straight sets. However, it’s the Flushing Meadows where she had to redeem herself and she did.

“She went through that pain. She came out, took the Australian Open, defeated Coco Gauff there, and kind of just got through the year,” Stevenson further added. However, Stevenson is not the only one who thinks that Sabalenka has gone through a lot leading to her US Open win. There is another former pro who has showered praise on the Belarusian star.

Kim Clijsters weighs in on Aryna Sabalenka’s hard-fought journey leading to the US Open win

In a recent podcast with Andy Roddick, the former Belgian star Kim Clijsters talked about the struggles that Aryna Sabalenka went through in her career. She lost her father a few years ago due to meningitis (a serious infection in the brain) and this year, in March, her ex-boyfriend Konstantin Koltsov died by suicide.

It took its toll on Sabalenka. However, she did not give up and eventually laid her hands on the US Open title. “I think what happened to her father, the situation in Miami with her ex-boyfriend, they have an impact on your life,” said Kim Clijsters while lauding the mindset that the Belarusian star carries with her.

Clijsters also touched upon how Sabalenka is a bit different from the rest. The veteran suggested that some players might get satisfied when they enter the top 50 or top 100 in the rankings, but Sabalenka never wants to stop. She always demands more from herself and that motivates her to keep going.

All the efforts that she has put in have helped Sabalenka big time and if she continues the momentum, she will etch her name as one of the tennis greats. While it’s still a long way to go for her, how many grand slams do you think she can win?