By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday January 15, 2025
It’s no secret that Aryna Sabalenka is the best hardcourt player in the women’s game right now. She has won 16 straight matches at the hard court championships and is aiming to become the first woman to win three consecutive Australian Open titles since 1999.
But what makes the world number 1 so unstoppable? Jessica Pegulawho also advanced to the third round in Australia, received it after her second round win over Elise Mertens.
Where to start? Yes for the service, says the American.
“She used to have a big serve, but now a lot more control, a lot more consistent,” Pegula said. “That variable that you hope would go away doesn’t really seem to go away anymore.”
Then there’s the footwork.
“I think her swing is much better,” Pegula added.
And then there’s her willingness to add touch and feel to her strong power game.
“Obviously she’s a super power player, sometimes she can take the racket out of your hands,” Pegula said. “I’ve noticed she’s starting to mix a lot more pieces, dropshots, coming to the net.”
The latest results don’t lie, says Pegula. Sabalenka is raising her level and that’s why she’s racking up wins.
“She’s really gotten a lot better as a player,” said Pegula, who could potentially face Sabalenka in the semifinals if she’s able to navigate a tough quarterfinal that also features third seed Coco Gauff. “I think that’s why you’re seeing these results. It has been greatly improved in many different aspects. Credit to her and her team.”
Gone are the days when Sabalenka played tennis and gave away a lot of free points when one of her shots broke, Pegula says. Now she’s also a pillar of consistency and reads her game well enough to know what decisions to make when an element doesn’t fire up like it usually does.
“Before I felt like I was going to play her, you would always tend to know that something was going to break, whether it was her swing, her hands or her serve, whatever it was,” she said. “Now that’s not happening as much. If one thing breaks, it probably has something else in its tool shed that can now start to include what you really didn’t expect.
“I think she’s just become a really, really complete player, but she also has that power game where she can be really aggressive and take the game away from you, which I think is why she heats up for a week or two. It can be really tough, I think she’s, yeah, just a really complete player now.”
