Sabalenka and the Wimbledon crossroads: title or alarm

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It is Aryna Sabalenka's time. The world number one, the most charismatic, the most influential, and dominant on the women's circuit needs to lift her first title at The Cathedral of London. Despite winning the Sunshine Double (Indian Wells and Miami), the Belarusian seems to have lost the control and initiative that made her feared by the rest of the rivals, but she has the opportunity to repeat it at Wimbledon 2026.

Oddly enough, Sabalenka has not yet won any Grand Slam in 2026. Defeated in the Australian Open final by Elena Rybakina and surprised by Diana Shnaider in the Roland Garros quarterfinals, the urgency is now focused on Wimbledon. Although last year she was in a similar situation and salvaged the year with her second US Open title.

However, the feeling is that her rivals already know how to counteract the powerful and aggressive tennis of the Minsk tigress, and when this happens, it is Sabalenka herself who becomes desperate and starts making mistakes. Her elimination at Roland Garros was the best example. Since her triumph in Miami last March, her best result has been reaching the quarterfinals in Madrid and Paris, while in Berlin, a Wimbledon preparation tournament, she only made it to the semifinals, with not very positive feelings.

Aryna Sabalenka Could Lose the Number One Ranking in Wimbledon 2026

Moreover, at the London tournament, she will not only face the pressure from the best players behind her, but she might also leave Great Britain without the world number one spot, which would then be taken by Rybakina. For this to happen, the Kazakh player has to finish ahead of the Belarusian. If Rybakina reaches the final, she would force Sabalenka to do the same, possibly competing for the number one spot in the final, as they are only separated by 947 points.

On the other hand, Sabalenka's relationship with Wimbledon is a tale of unfulfilled potential. She has reached three semifinals in her last three participations (2021, 2023, 2025), but has never managed to take the final step. In fact, her three defeats in the penultimate round have all been in three sets, showing that, despite being the world number one, her weakness still lies in closely contested matches decided by details.

Hey @SabalenkaA 👋#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/pOqWsif2lM

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 26, 2026

Despite all these challenges, combined with the peculiarities of such a technical and demanding surface, Sabalenka remains the top favorite to win the title. In fact, if she manages to lift her first Wimbledon title, it would also send a statement to her main rivals, whether Rybakina, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, or Mirra Andreeva.

From next Monday until Sunday, July 12, all doubts about Wimbledon 2026 will be settled, including those related to Aryna Sabalenka. Winning the title would reaffirm her as the best player in the world, but failing to do so could potentially trigger talks of a crisis in the Belarusian's career.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Sabalenka y la encrucijada de Wimbledon: título o alarma