{"id":19524,"date":"2025-07-24T03:04:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T03:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/19524\/"},"modified":"2025-07-24T03:04:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T03:04:12","slug":"aryna-sabalenka-explains-why-she-almost-retired-from-tennis-in-2022-it-was-a-sign-to-quit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/19524\/","title":{"rendered":"Aryna Sabalenka explains why she almost retired from tennis in 2022, ‘it was a sign to quit’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Aryna Sabalenka is the best player in the world today and maintains a healthy lead atop the world rankings.<\/p>\n

No woman has won more WTA<\/a> singles titles than Sabalenka in 2025, as she took home the Brisbane International, Miami Open, and Madrid Open.<\/p>\n

She has, however, failed to get over the line at the Grand Slam events, losing two finals to Madison Keys<\/a> (Australian Open) and Coco Gauff (French Open), and one semifinal to Amanda Anisimova (Wimbledon).<\/p>\n

\"ArynaPhoto by Cameron Spencer\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Despite her major shortcomings, Sabalenka<\/a> remains world number one, and leads number two Gauff by over 4,500 points.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s top of the world right now, but that hasn\u2019t always been the case, as the Belarusian now explains why she almost retired from tennis three years ago.<\/p>\n

Aryna Sabalenka thought her serving struggles were a \u2018sign\u2019 for her to retire in 2022<\/p>\n

During an interview with Cosmopolitan<\/a>, Sabalenka reflected on the struggles she faced in 2022 that nearly made her quit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was such a long process. A lot of tennis is in your head. You\u2019re always talking to yourself and dealing with emotional moments,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe truly tried everything to fix my serve, and nothing worked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought maybe it was a sign to quit and do something else.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ArynaPhoto by Tim Clayton\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Sabalenka\u2019s serve was once a point of weakness in her game, as she often offered up several double faults to her opponents.<\/p>\n

Working hard to address that area of her game, Sabalenka chose to stick with tennis, a decision that has clearly paid off.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it ended up being a turning point for me. I stayed with it, worked even harder, and mentally, I found myself. I got through by trying over and over again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI talked a lot with my team and brought new people into the team. It\u2019s very important to have the right people around you, especially during those moments. It\u2019s all about support.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fixing her serve, Sabalenka has competed in six Grand Slam finals since, winning three, becoming world number one in the process.<\/p>\n

2023 Australian Open F \u2013 Aryna Sabalenka beat Elena Rybakina2023 US Open F \u2013 Aryna Sabalenka lost to Coco Gauff2024 Australian Open F \u2013 Aryna Sabalenka beat Qinwen Zheng2024 US Open F \u2013 Aryna Sabalenka beat Jessica Pegula2025 Australian Open F \u2013 Aryna Sabalenka lost to Madison Keys2025 French Open F \u2013 Aryna Sabalenka lost to Coco Gauff<\/p>\n

Sabalenka may be ranked number one in the world, but how does her new and improved serve compare to the rest of her WTA Tour<\/a> rivals?<\/p>\n

Comparing Aryna Sabalenka\u2019s serve to the rest of the WTA Tour<\/p>\n

There are several key metrics used to determine the quality of a player\u2019s serve, including the number of aces hit, 1st Serve %, and Service game winning %.<\/p>\n

Sabalenka ranks well in most key metrics in 2025, which could not be said for her three years ago.<\/p>\n

Aryna Sabalenka\u2019s serving stats in 2025 Aces \u2013 5th on WTA Tour1st Serve % \u2013 127th on WTA Tour1st Serve points % \u2013 24th on WTA Tour2nd Serve points % \u2013 20th on WTA TourServe points won % \u2013 9th on WTA TourBreak points saved % \u2013 20th on WTA TourServe games won % \u2013 7th on WTA Tour\"ArynaPhoto by TOBIAS SCHWARZ\/AFP via Getty ImagesAryna Sabalenka\u2019s serving stats in 2022Aces \u2013 6th on WTA Tour1st Serve % \u2013 207th on WTA Tour1st Serve points % \u2013 39th on WTA Tour2nd Serve points % \u2013 210th on WTA TourServe points won % \u2013 85th on WTA TourBreak points saved % \u2013 168th on WTA TourServe games won % \u2013 80th on WTA Tour<\/p>\n

Improving as much as she has, it\u2019s truly no surprise that Sabalenka has developed into the best player in the world.<\/p>\n

She will hope her serve continues to impress at Flushing Meadows next month, when she returns to defend her US Open title.<\/p>\n

Three-times a Grand Slam champion, Sabalenka has already missed out on two chances to add to her tally in 2025, as she remains the fourth most successful \u2018active\u2019 WTA star.<\/p>\n

RankNameGrand Slams wonYears won1Venus Williams72000-20082Iga Swiatek62020-20253Naomi Osaka42018-20214Aryna Sabalenka32023-2024T-5Coco Gauff22023-2025T-5Barbora Krejcikova22021-2024T-5Petra Kvitova22011-2014T-5Victoria Azarenka22012-2013List of \u2018active\u2019 multiple WTA Grand Slam winners<\/p>\n

Only time will tell if Sabalenka can pick up a fourth Grand Slam title in New York, but it will certainly be worth tuning in for.<\/p>\n

The 2025 US Open is scheduled to begin on Sunday, August 24.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aryna Sabalenka is the best player in the world today and maintains a healthy lead atop the world…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19525,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[6005,49,48,82,593,4306],"class_list":{"0":"post-19524","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-aryna-sabalenka","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-tennis","13":"tag-wta"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}