Jessica Pegula, on What Makes Aryna Sabalenka a Powerhouse on the Prime of the Ladies’s Recreation

Posted by Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday January 15, 2025

That is no secret Aryna Sabalenka she is the most effective hardcourt participant within the ladies’s recreation proper now. She has received 16 consecutive exhausting courtroom majors and is bidding to develop into the primary lady to win three consecutive Australian Open titles since 1999.

However what makes the World No.1 unstoppable? Jessica Pegulawho additionally advances to the third spherical in Australia gave her an opportunity after her second spherical win over Elise Mertens.

The place will you begin? How a couple of feed, stated the American.

“Earlier than he had loads of assets, however now he has loads of management, which may be very constant,” Pegula stated. “This pattern that you simply hope will finish would not appear to be working very properly anymore.”

Then there may be the footwork.

“I feel his motion has gotten rather a lot higher,” added Pegula.

Then there’s his willingness so as to add contact and really feel to his blistering energy recreation.

“Clearly he is a participant with loads of energy, he can take the racket out of your palms at occasions,” stated Pegula. “I’ve seen that he is began placing loads of items collectively, dropshots, coming to the web.”

Current outcomes do not lie, Pegula stated. Sabalenka is elevating his degree and that’s the reason he’s recording a win.

“She was a lot better as a participant,” stated Pegula, who might face Sabalenka within the semifinals if she will advance to the robust stage that features third-place finisher Coco Gauff. “I feel that is why you see these outcomes. He has improved rather a lot in many alternative features. Kudos to him and his crew.”

Pegula says that lengthy gone are the times when Sabalenka performed softball and gave away loads of free factors when one in all her photographs broke. Now he is a pillar of consistency, and he is studying his recreation so properly that he is aware of what selections to make when one factor is not taking pictures prefer it often does.

“Earlier than I felt like once I was enjoying him, you all the time knew one thing was going to go fallacious, whether or not it was his motion or his palms or his work, no matter,” he stated. “Now that does not occur that a lot. If one factor breaks, perhaps he has one thing in his toolbox that he can begin putting in now that you simply did not actually count on.

“I feel he is nonetheless a very full participant, however he additionally has an influence recreation the place he may be aggressive and take the sport away from you, which I feel is why he is been sizzling for per week or two. It will be fairly tough, I feel, sure, he’s fairly a whole participant proper now. ”