Wimbledon: Aryna Sabalenka’s Hunger to ‘Just Kill It’ Draws a Warning Signal From Former Finalist

 Aryna Sabalenka has swiftly made her transition from clay court to grass court season with a bang! After winning against Daria Kasatkina in the first round in Berlin, World No. 3 is soon going to battle against Anna Kalinskaya in the quarterfinal. Her aggressive style of play on-court has made her quite famous among the tennis community. As the grass-court season begins with full rhythm, Genie Bouchard, the former Wimbledon finalist, expressed her admiration for Sabalenka and her complete confidence in her gameplay. She also explained how, even after knowing Rybakina’s “ace game,” her preference remains intact.

Appearing on the Tennis Channel Live Podcast’s latest episode on June 20, Genie Bouchard, Andy Roddick, and Steve Weissman discussed the current form of the top WTA players. During the first half of the podcast, the American Sportscaster, Weissman, asked, “There are some big names in the storm here, Sabalenka, Iga, Rybakina Jessie, Coco, Who is your favorite here?” The 30-year-old player had a straightforward answer. 

“The first strike tennis that we saw from Sabalenka today. She’s doing really good so, watch out for her,” Bouchard said, indicating her upcoming performance at Wimbledon. Furthermore, she also sided with the two-time Australian Open champion when asked about her number one player in tennis in terms of their serving techniques. “My No. 1 is Sabalenka who we watched today just kill it. She really had a lot of power and goes for really specific targets. She was hitting the lines today like I have not seen, she is the number one girl right now.”

On the other hand, her No. 2 player was Elena Rybakina. She explained how being tall works to her advantage and gives her good angles and the ability to hit balls on a high point. The Stuttgart Open winner, with her 78% serve-win percentage rate, has fired 260 aces so far. Winning 79. 7% of her service games, the Kazakhstani player is on fire this season, leading over Sabalenka’s records. 

However, even after knowing she was leading the ace game, Bouchard remained firm in her opinion. When asked whether she would change her No. 1 player based on the record, she said, “I’m still going to go with Sabalenka because of her aggressive attitude. She likes to go with a lot of pace and so I’m going to keep her as number 1.” Irrespective of their ace records, on-court, the World No. 3 player enjoys a 6-3 lead over Rybakina. However, according to Aryna Sabalenka, sometimes it is “not easy” to deal with Rybakina’s intense service game, as she revealed earlier this year.

Aryna Sabalenka reveals why playing against Rybakina puts her under “ pressure”

Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina are arguably the biggest servers in the WTA tour. During their nine encounters on-court, their recent face-off was in Madrid. In that semifinal match, the 26-year-old player won over Rybakina by 1-6, 7-5, 7-6. However, Sabalenka, known for her aggressive style on-court, revealed that facing an opponent with an aggressive game style is not easy. “It’s definitely not easy to deal with such an aggressive serve. It’s definitely putting you under so much pressure.”

However, earlier this season when Rybakina and Sabalenka met in Brisbane, the 30-year-old player emerged victorious. Following that, she has earned two more titles, while Sabalenka has only one in her bag so far. Nevertheless, as the season progresses, fans are waiting to see more of their aggressive clashes on-court!