“I never thought she was going to be able to do”: Mats Wilander praises Aryna Sabalenka for improving one aspect at Australian Open

Former world number one Mats Wilander has pinpointed a key area where current women’s world number one Aryna Sabalenka has shown significant improvement at the ongoing Australian Open. Sabalenka, 26, is already considered one of the top players in women’s tennis, alongside Poland’s Iga Swiatek.

Wilander recently highlighted one aspect of Sabalenka’s game that has surprised him. “She’s not just hitting the ball as hard as she can anymore; she’s mixing it up and hitting some drop shots,” he said, as quoted by The Tennis Gazette. “I never thought she would be able to do that, but she really has.”

Sabalenka is currently defending her Australian Open title for the second year in a row. She won last year’s final by defeating China’s Zheng Qinwen in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2. This year, Sabalenka has already secured a spot in the quarterfinals after dispatching Russia’s rising star Mirra Andreeva in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2.

In the last-eight clash, Sabalenka will face Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who reached the quarterfinals after defeating Croatia’s Donna Vekic, 7-6, 6-0. The upcoming match will be the fourth meeting between Sabalenka and Pavlyuchenkova. Interestingly, Pavlyuchenkova holds a slight edge in their head-to-head encounters with two wins to Sabalenka’s one. However, this will be their first match in nearly four years, with their last meeting occurring at the 2021 French Open, where Pavlyuchenkova won 6-4, 2-6, 6-0.