Aryna Sabalenka’s hopes of winning a third Australian Open title were left in tatters by Elena Rybakina on Saturday.
Sabalenka was defeated 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 by her Kazakhstani opponent, and has since been told she broke a key ‘tennis rule’, costing her the title.
Sabalenka has now lost two consecutive Australian Open finals, and three of her last four Grand Slam finals.
For all her excellent traits, the four-time Grand Slam champion does struggle to remain composed in the biggest moments.
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This was evident during the Australian Open final. Sabalenka led 3-0 in the final set before losing the next five games and eventually, the match.
Following the contest, Greg Rusedski has offered some advice to the world number one.
Greg Rusedski says Aryna Sabalenka should copy Iga Swiatek and hire a sports psychologist
Rusedski, the former British number one, has suggested Aryna Sabalenka should hire a sports psychologist to assist with her on-court troubles.
Rusedski noted Iga Swiatek’s faith in sports psychology. The Polish star has worked with sports psychologist Daria Abramowicz since 2019.
“Part of me is thinking does she [Sabalenka] need a sports psychologist,” Rusedski said on the ‘Off Court with Greg‘ podcast.
“[Iga] Swiatek talks about her sports psychologist being so important. I don’t know if she is working with somebody who can get into her mind to play with that freedom that she does throughout the whole tournament [in finals].
“Expectation and pressure. When you expect to win, bad things happen. You have to play with freedom and be fearless. At the moment, you have to have rituals where you can go to, to slow yourself down and get in the present and execute.
“Even if you miss, who cares? Fortune favours the brave. And if she is braver and can get over that hump then she can win multiple Slams and get to double digits. She is that good.”
In a 2022 interview with Eurosport’s Barbara Schett, Iga Swiatek noted the impact of Daria Abramowicz on her career.
“It’s pretty hard to know [how I’m developing psychologically] that because since my psychologist is travelling with me,” Swiatek said.
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“We talk over lunch so it’s hard to say but it is always important for me, and I’m happy that I have a person that I can talk to and that when I have some doubts, I can really you know look for another opinion and a person who’s going to remind me sometimes where my strengths are.
“So I feel as though it all comes together and really clicks on court and that’s the most important thing for me.”
Aryna Sabalenka previously worked with a sports psychologist
In a 2025 interview with Jay Shetty, Sabalenka reflected on her previous work with a sports psychologist.
Sabalenka ended her working relationship with a sports psychologist in the 2023 pre-season, just before the Belarusian won her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.
“I worked with a sports psychologist for four or five years,” Sabalenka said. “We did some sort of meditation.
“We did a lot of things at the beginning of my career, but then I found that I was relying on her so much. I was expecting her to fix my problems, my emotions, and I was repeating the same mistake over and over again.
“I was getting upset about that, so at some point I decided, ‘OK, I have to take responsibility over my actions.’
“I stopped working with the psychologist, and that was the moment I started learning about myself, when I actually understood myself better.
“I started to control my emotions much better, and it felt more balanced when I took that responsibility.”
