Aryna Sabalenka has not been herself throughout 2026.
At times, the Belarusian has shown glimpses which have reinforced her status as the best player in the world. However, all too often she has become uncharacteristically prone to shock early exits against players who, on paper, should not be troubling her.
The 28-year-old has all the physical and technical tools needed to dominate world tennis, but time and time again the same problem keeps cropping up.
Yesterday, despite her win over Talia Gibson in the first round of the Cincinnati Open, that issue reared its ugly head once again.
Aryna Sabalenka’s big problem highlighted despite Cincinnati Open win
On paper, there should be little to complain about following a straight-sets win. It seems about as routine as it can get.
However, it is Aryna Sabalenka’s inability to kill off matches where she is the dominant force that is proving to be her undoing, and there were signs of this unfortunate phenomenon again yesterday.
What is going wrong for Aryna Sabalenka at the moment? 😬
It took the world number one six match points before she eventually converted, having actually been broken when serving for the match initially. It took a second-set tiebreak to secure victory, which could have easily gone the way of her opponent and forced them into a third-set decider.
Such a lack of killer instinct, which is totally unexpected from Sabalenka, was evidenced during her loss at Roland Garros to Diana Shnaider, her loss to Jessica Pegula in the Berlin Open, and defeats to Hailey Baptiste and Sorana Cirstea in Rome and Madrid, both matches where she led by a set.
Aryna Sabalenka can save her season at the US Open once again
Fortunately for Sabalenka, her last opportunity to save her campaign comes at one of her favourite hunting grounds: the US Open.
Last year, she found herself in an eerily similar position to where she is now, heading to New York with a few big titles to her name, but no Grand Slam triumphs.
Arguably, that 2025 season was even better considering she had reached two finals and another semi-final at the major level, and she went on to relish that pressure and take the US Open title.
Who do you think has the best chance of winning the US Open? 🏆
Having spent all of the year so far as the world’s top-ranked player, suddenly Elena Rybakina is breathing down Sabalenka’s neck, with the Cincinnati and US Open now more important than ever.
Winning both, but particularly the last Grand Slam of the year, will be crucial for the four-time major champion to salvage what has been a strange season laden with shock defeats and an alarming lack of dominance.
