By Toby Davis
LONDON (Reuters) – Aryna Sabalenka is almost in a league of her own when it comes to the physical side of tennis but the world number two said she needed to toughen up mentally after she lost her Wimbledon semi-final to Ons Jabeur on Thursday.
The imposing Belarusian looked on course to reach another Grand Slam final when she took the first set and led 4-2 in the second against her opponent, but the momentum quickly swung Jabeur’s way and Sabalenka was left floundering.
The Tunisian broke twice to level the contest and once in the decider to take the game away from Sabalenka and reach a second successive Wimbledon final with a 6-7(5) 6-4 6-3 victory to set up a clash with unseeded Czech Marketa Vondrousova.
After seeing the match snatched from her grasp, Sabalenka said it was too early for a final analysis on why the wheels had come off, but she would certainly be looking to fine-tune the mental side of her game.
“There are so many things I can improve. I think it’s more mentally. It’s more mental stuff that I can improve than game,” she told reporters.
“I mean, everything was going well for me. I just lost it a little bit in the second set, and it’s just gone.
“She was going for crazy shots. I felt like she was doing whatever she wanted, and everything was going in. I was just trying to put the ball back, like, on that side.
“I’ll just keep working, keep pushing myself. Hopefully next time mentally I’ll be tougher in the semi-finals.”
After a superb start to the year when she won the Australian Open and reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros, Sabalenka would have taken the world number one spot with victory over Jabeur.
Having had the match by the scruff of the neck in the second set, the Belarusian said it had an emotional impact on her when Jabeur eased her grip on the contest.
“I think in these key moments, I didn’t play the way I was supposed to play. She got the opportunity, she took it,” said Sabalenka.
“I was a little bit emotionally down, then she was up. She was just going for some crazy shots, which I would say normally she wouldn’t put it in.
“…I didn’t put her under pressure a lot on my serve, at least. I didn’t serve my best today. She was able to play on my serve. She was serving better. It was just like a little bit of everything.”
(Reporting by Toby Davis; Editing by Ken Ferris)
