“Don’t try it, it’s deadly”: Tennis icon warns Aryna Sabalenka’s WTA Finals rivals about No. 1’s ‘deadly stuff’
Martina Navratilova thinks the WTA Finals conditions will perfectly suit Aryna Sabalenka’s game as one of the greatest players in tennis history warns the Belarusian could easily come up with “deadly stuff” in Riyadh.
Just as was the case last year, Sabalenka made the WTA Finals as the top seed. While the Belarusian tennis star was the top favorite to win the main glory in the WTA Finals’ inaugural edition in Riyadh last year, she didn’t manage to do so after losing to Coco Gauff in the semifinal. However, it should be noted that the world No. 1 played lots of tennis in late 2024 and that she didn’t look the freshest in Riyadh.
Learning from what happened last year, Sabalenka decided to take a break after this year’s US Open – she missed Beijing and only competed in Wuhan. This week, she also spent time in Dubai vacationing with Paula Badosa.
Ahead of the WTA Finals, Navratilova was asked to preview Sabalenka’s chances. And the former 18-time Grand Slam champion responded by pretty much describing the Riyadh conditions as perfect for the world No. 1.
Navratilova: The court will be fast enough for Sabalenka to do damage and slow enough for her to prepare for her shots
“She (Aryna) is the heavy favorite on any surface, but particularly on a medium-pace hard court where you get a solid bounce and good footing. Her shots pay off on any surface and she has enough time to get into position. It’s fast enough for her to do damage and slow enough for her to prepare for her shots. She’s deadly on this stuff,” Navratilova told the WTA website.
For Sabalenka, this will be her fifth consecutive WTA Finals appearance. The Belarusian was the closest to winning the season-ending tournament in 2022, when she was beaten by Caroline Garcia in the final.
Caroline Garcia brutally honestly confesses what she lacked to win Grand Slam
Caroline Garcia issued a candid confession on the latest episode of her podcast as the former French tennis star admits not having a Plan B in her game was the main thing that prevented her from achieving her Grand Slam goals.
As a junior, Garcia posted multiple strong results since she made the US Open final and also reached at least the semifinal in the remaining three Grand Slams. That led to the Frenchwoman being widely regarded as one of the most promising and talented players of the game.
Now, at 32, Garcia is three months retired. During her pro career, the 32-year-old managed to achieve some notable results, like winning the 2022 WTA Finals and twice achieving a ranking of No. 4 in the world. But when it came to her Grand Slam results, she managed to make the semifinal only once – it happened at the 2022 US Open.
If you can recall, Garcia was compared to Maria Sharapova when she first arrived on the WTA Tour. And while the 2022 WTA Finals champion was an aggressive type of player like Sharapova, she never achieved the success that the Russian achieved.
Garcia: I played very aggressively, risky… I had only one way of playing and it cost me
“I should have added in my game more of an Option B because most of the time with my game, it was very risky. There were, I think, a lot of matches that I lost that I could have been able to win if I had been taught to be like, ‘Ok, today I have to put [the ball] in,” the former world No. 4 said on the Tennis Insider Club.
When Garcia was feeling her game, she was one of the most dangerous players and had the ability to beat any player. But when her game was off, it looked rough at times.
“My dad wanted me to be aggressive, do winners, but there are some days when either I was not feeling it or I was too stressed, and I was not able to do it. I didn’t know how to put it in, that maybe putting it in is good enough, and tomorrow I could step on court again and go back to my way. It was only one way for me to play, and it didn’t open me to another way. It was like, I don’t know how to do the rest,” the 32-year-old added.
