Aryna Sabalenka told to learn from Elena Rybakina as she’s criticised for ‘poor’ behaviour after the US Open final

The Belarusian was visibly frustrated immediately after the match as she smashed her racket on the ground, and Sabalenka was emotional in her post-match speech as well.

Sabalenka has received a mixed reaction to her behaviour, and now former Australian Open finalist John Lloyd has given his verdict.

Aryna Sabalenka told her behaviour was ‘pretty poor’ by John Lloyd

Lloyd discussed the US Open women’s singles final on the Inside-In Tennis Podcast, where he was critical of Sabalenka’s behaviour and told her she could learn more from Rybakina.

“After the match, I didn’t like Sabalenka’s attitude,” said Lloyd. “I thought that was pretty poor the way she reacted.

“I understand you getting pretty mad losing a match like that of course, but I think she could have been a little bit more gracious than she was. I think she could learn a little bit from Rybakina in that respect.”

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Sabalenka’s loss in the US Open final means that she has failed to win any of the four major tournaments for the first time since 2022.

When asked why he thinks this is, Lloyd suggested that he thinks Sabalenka’s woes are mainly mental, but he backed her to bounce back if she is able to work on this.

“I think that comes down to the mental side,” added Lloyd. “I think she just gets in some ways a little bit too fired up sometimes in these finals and she goes for broke a little bit too much.

“Obviously that’s her game to go for lines and that’s the way she plays, but for me it’s almost like you feel like if you could have an earpiece in there and just say just calm down a little bit here, just refocus, you don’t have to be on the edge the whole time.

“You feel like, especially when matches are close, you just feel like she’s losing a little bit of that calmness that you need in big situations. But she’s too good a player.

“…If she listens to her coaching group. I mean she got mad at them a couple of times sarcastically during the finals, but if she listens to them and they go back as they will do at the end of the year, go through it all, I mean she’s got the win to win more majors, there’s no doubt about it, it’s just getting that mental side right.”

Aryna Sabalenka’s likely schedule for the rest of the 2026 season

Sabalenka has not only failed to win a Grand Slam this year, but she also lost her world number one ranking to Rybakina at the US Open.

As she attempts to get it back before the end of the year, Sabalenka is likely to play just three more tournaments in the 2026 season.

The first of those is the China Open, which is one of only four WTA 1000 tournaments that Sabalenka has not won. Sabalenka has never been past the quarter-finals of the China Open, and her participation in Beijing may be in doubt as she missed the tournament last year.

While she has never won the China Open, Sabalenka is a three-time former champion at another of her scheduled tournaments at the Wuhan Open. Sabalenka had a 100% record at the Wuhan Open until last year, when she lost in the semi-finals to Jessica Pegula.

The final tournament on Sabalenka’s likely schedule is the WTA Finals, where she is twice a runner-up.

Sabalenka is currently 2,026 points behind Rybakina in the WTA rankings, and she will need to perform well at all of these three tournaments if she is to close this gap by 2027.

The first of those will be at the China Open, which begins on Sunday, September 30.

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