It has been a difficult month for Aryna Sabalenka on the WTA Tour.
Sabalenka’s woes began at the French Open, where she inexplicably lost the final 10 games against Diana Shnaider in a stunning quarter-final defeat.
It seemed Sabalenka was set to endure another concerning defeat when she trailed Nikola Bartunkova 2-6, 0-4 at Berlin Open on Friday.
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However, the Belarusian produced a stirring comeback, eventually beating the Czech player 2-6, 7-6, 6-4.
Unfortunately for Sabalenka, her Friday heroics have been quickly forgotten following another stunning collapse versus Jessica Pegula.
Aryna Sabalenka keeps surrendering the momentum in high-stakes matches
Sabalenka looked to have snatched the momentum from Pegula when she emphatically won the second set tiebreak; having won six of the final seven tiebreak points.
However, as has been customary for Sabalenka this year, she let the momentum slip from her grasp.
Pegula defeated the world number one 6-4, 6-7, 6-0, winning 20 of the final 27 points.
This is far from the first time tennis fans have witnessed such a loss of control from Sabalenka in big moments.
Earlier this year, Sabalenka led Elena Rybakina 4-6, 6-4, 3-0 in the Australian Open final.
She went on to lose the match, winning just one of the final seven games.
Five months later, a similar situation occurred at Roland Garros.
As already briefly mentioned, Sabalenka led Diana Shnaider 6-3, 5-3 when she proceeded to lose 10 consecutive games to the 28th-seeded Russian.
Sabalenka simply cannot afford to be allowing such dramatic momentum shifts during matches if she wants to win Wimbledon for the first time later this summer.
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Aryna Sabalenka’s Wimbledon record
Sabalenka made her first Wimbledon appearance in 2017, reaching the second round.
The young Belarusian defeated Irina Khromacheva, before losing to German player Carina Witthöft.
Four years later, Sabalenka achieved her first big breakthrough at the event.
After three previous campaigns in which she failed to advance past the second round, Sabalenka marched into the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2021, beating Elena Rybakina and Ons Jabeur en route.
Aryna Sabalenka’s Wimbledon record
- 2017: Second round
- 2018: First round
- 2019: First round
- 2021: Semi-finals
- 2023: Semi-finals
- 2025: Semi-finals
She was then defeated by Karolina Pliskova in three sets.
Since then, Sabalenka has recorded two further semi-final appearances: in 2023 and 2025.
The Belarusian was beaten by Ons Jabeur in 2023 and Amanda Anisimova in 2025.
After losing 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to Anisimova, Sabalenka told reporters in London that she ‘did her best.’
“I think it’s obviously that today returning game was much worse,” the four-time major admitted. “Like, my returns were much worse compared to the matches before.
“I don’t know. I mean, I have to say that I did my best. I gave everything I had at the moment. Okay, return game didn’t work well. I still came back. I still had chances.
“Then the last game I didn’t serve. I mean, I did serve, but she just smashed my serves.
“I have to say that she was more brave today. Maybe when I was just, like, trying to stay in the point, she was, like, going for all — she was playing more aggressive. Sometimes I was just stopping my arms, making like mistakes which I shouldn’t be making.
“I think I should have been a little bit more brave today and remember that I’m on the top of the ranking, and I can do that. I think at some point at the match I forgot about that.”
