"On clay we made a decision with Sabalenka and it didn't go as we wanted"

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Aryna Sabalenka arrives at the grass court swing with a lot of uncertainties surrounding her form after a rather poor clay court season. However, her physical trainer Jason Stacy has revealed the mistake they made that explains the poor results of the world number 1 in the WTA ranking on clay.

Sabalenka has not reached a single final on clay, losing to Hailey Baptiste in WTA Madrid, to Sorana Cirstea in WTA Rome, and to Diana Shnaider at Roland Garros. In fact, she has not gone beyond the quarterfinals. Losses to opponents significantly lower in level and ranking than the Belarusian player, which can only be explained by the mental factor and accumulated fatigue from previous tournaments, something Stacy highlighted in an interview with Tennis365.

"On clay, we made a decision, we had to do it for a couple of reasons, and it didn't go as we wanted. Perhaps the decision we made, regarding the planning and the timing of certain aspects in our approach, sounded good, and we all agreed, and thought it could work very well based on last year's results, but, if one only goes by the results, maybe it wasn't the best plan, so we will reassess what worked, what didn't work, what we could do differently next season to prepare better," he stated.

Sabalenka and the secrets of her extensive team

However, Stacy plays a key role within Sabalenka's team, as he leads decisions on important matters. "Anton [Dubrov] and I are the ones who speak with the agent and representatives about her commitments. We find out in what state she is, both physically and mentally and emotionally," he acknowledges. Yet, there are other people in the team of the number 1 who are responsible for knowing Aryna's situation.

"Now we have a physiotherapist who travels with us, so they have been talking to him about what they are working on, what they could do, we analyze all the different aspects, we look at the results from the previous season, where her energy decreased, in terms of her ability to handle those things, her emotional, mental, and physical energy. I am very involved in what we are going to do or not do. Ultimately, she makes the final decision. She will listen to what we have to say and, usually, she will just say, 'Tell me what you think,' but sometimes it's a tough decision."

Whether due to the accumulation of matches or not, one thing is clear: Sabalenka is experiencing her worst moment of the season, so she will have to step up her game if she doesn't want Elena Rybakina to snatch the number 1 ranking in the WTA. Psychological, physical issues, and many doubts sum up the current situation of the Belarusian tennis player, who defends Wimbledon semifinals and must make a move now.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, "En tierra tomamos una decisión con Sabalenka y no salió como queríamos"