Aryna Sabalenka’s coach has opened up on his charge’s struggles over the past six months and how her team is trying to find a solution for the world No 1’s US Open title defence.
Ever since the Belarusian won the Sunshine Double in Indian Wells and Miami in March, Sabalenka has failed to win a title on the WTA Tour.
Tight losses in Madrid and Rome were followed up by a capitulation in the French Open quarter-finals to Diana Shnaider, as the top seed lost 10 straight games in a three-set defeat.
Relatively early losses at Wimbledon, the Canadian Open, and the Cincinnati Open have sent alarm bells ringing, as the No 1 ranking increasingly looks under threat.
As the 28-year-old aims for a third consecutive title at Flushing Meadows, her coach Anton Dubrov has lifted the lid on her 2026 struggles and how she tries to find inspiration from the likes of Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams and the late basketball legend, Kobe Bryant.
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He said on the Served podcast, “I think we’re also kind of spoiled, with expectation; you kind of come to the tournament and you’re like, ‘Ok, we’re going to stay here, likely until the end’, and then, not from nowhere, but then you’re like, ‘Ok, we have to go, we have to practice. And then you find yourself, not in a depression, but you’re kind of lost; it’s awkward.
“But, at the same time, we always have this approach: first of all, we’re looking for the solution, and we’re looking for the greatest one.
“Let’s say in this situation, what Novak [Djokovic] or Serena [Williams], how they actually get through. And even, like Kobe [Bryant], what he was like approaching his career. There is no all-the-time success in your career. There are going to be downs, but this is where you can grow the most.”
Sabalenka sits just over four points above Elena Rybakina in the WTA Tour rankings and in the WTA Tour Race, she sits second behind the 27-year-old, with 19-year-old Mirra Andreeva just a point adrift.
If the four-time major winner has a poor tournament, she could suffer a rankings drop but Dubrov, who has been in her team since 2020, stressed that wholesale changes do not need to be made to her game right now.
He said, “I wouldn’t say we have made a lot of changes, to be honest. Especially right now, because we’re going to play mixed doubles, so you want to prepare to play doubles because we didn’t play for a while.
“But yes, the week before the Slam, usually, every day you play at least a set with another player and then, we’ll spend 60-90 minutes, sometimes two hours on the court with the hitting partners.
“We’re trying to keep the volume, the intensity, maybe a little higher, especially the week before a Slam. But, at the same time, I do like how she’s practising right now, and what she’s doing on the court. I think, at the moment, I want her to be happy and enjoy the process.
“Sometimes, it’s actually about taking a day off and spending less time on the court, or we mix it up a little bit with the warm-up to make it more fun or enjoyable.”
While Sabalenka has struggled for consistency and question marks are being made about her mental strength and ability to win when the chips are down, Dubrov thinks this period of strife will maker her a better player.
The 31-year-old coach added that this is an opportunity for Sabalenka to “prove to everyone who you are”.
“So, if we can find the best solution, you’re going to be even stronger. You’ve been great, but with all the knowledge that we had, you kind of got to the limit, it looks like, so we have to upgrade,” he said. “We actually have to search for the new step that’s going to help you be a better Aryna right now.
“With the US Open, a big stage, she didn’t win a Slam this year, so definitely, she expected a lot from herself. But right now we have to work day by day, build you match by match; we cannot expect you to play perfectly, and this is great; we can use this as a motivation to get better. Now you can prove to everyone who you are.”
