Jimmy Connors believes that Aryna Sabalenka has “other stuff” on her mind and that is affecting her results on court.

Sabalenka hasn’t won a title since late March at the Miami Open, with the Belarusian since being deposed at the top of the rankings and going slamless in 2026.

Many pundits believe the 28-year-old has a mentality problem right now, with four-time Grand Slam champion Sabalenka suffering a string of disappointing defeats for more than six months.

The world No 2 reacted angrily to the notion that she was partying too much in the lead-up to her US Open title defence, which ultimately ended in a final defeat to new No 1 Elena Rybakina.

But off the back of making her catwalk debut wearing a Gucci dress in Milan, in addition to other off-court commercial dealings and more, eight-time major winner Connors has expressed his concern about Sabalenka.

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He said on Advantage Connors, “She has other stuff on her mind. It’s hard to do (juggle stuff). I like her game. She flat out thumps the ball. I’ve watched her play when she wins and I’ve watched her play when she loses.

“Sometimes going for the lines becomes a three or four inches to the wrong side. And you can’t explain why that happens, but outside influences are a bad influence.”

When his co-host used the word “distraction”, Connors said was a very apt word. The former world No 1 also stressed that if you have interests outside of tennis, they only get talked about if you start losing and in Sabalenka’s case, that is happening more often than she would like.

“Even when you practice and you’re working on your game and you’re trying to improve and trying to say, ‘I can win this tournament’, that distraction sometimes creeps in. And sometimes that’s hard to fight against,” he added.

“She going to have to regroup. I like her. She’s going to have to get back into it and realise what makes everything else possible really in her life, you know, around tennis. That’s the key because, if you’re not winning, they ain’t paying.”

Sabalenka is set to play at the 1000 WTA Tour event in Wuhan in the coming week, before preparing for the Tour Finals at Indian Wells in November. Connors thinks that as the season is nearing its end, it may be a good time to reset and prepare for the 2027 campaign.

The American continued, “Sometimes it’s good to get away for a bit. Regroup, work on your game, get your attitude right. Know what it takes because she knows what it takes to win. And now she’s finding out what it takes to lose.

“I like the way she plays. I like her attitude. I like her intensity. I like everything, but I also like her to win. So I hope she gets back on that trail.”

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