Aryna Sabalenka admits it is probably fair to exclude her at the moment from the “WTA Big Three” since she has been playing poorly over the last two months.
Since finishing as runner-up in Brisbane and winning the Australian Open, Sabalenka has won back-to-back matches just once. After losing to Donna Vekic in her Dubai opener, Sabalenka lost in the Indian Wells round-of-16 before concluding her Sunshine Double with a third-round exit in Miami. Last week, Sabalenka made it past her Stuttgart before losing to Marketa Vondrousova in the quarterfinal.
While Sabalenka has been struggling, Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina have been doing pretty well. Over the last two months, Swiatek has won two WTA 1000 titles, while Rybakina won WTA 500 events in Abu Dhabi and Stuttgart while also finishing as runner-up in Miami and Doha.
“I feel like I kind of dropped my level a little bit (to be part of) the ‘big three’, I feel like it’s been a ‘big two’ in the last month,” Sabalenka said.
Sabalenka hopes to turn the page around in Madrid
This week, Sabalenka is set to kick off her Madrid Open title defense. As the second-seeded player, Sabalenka will start with a first-round bye and play against the winner of the match…
