Roddick sounds the alarms with Sabalenka
The former world number 1 believes that his setback against Rybakina in the US Open final may be too heavy a burden for the remainder of the season.
Aryna Sabalenka suffered one of the most painful defeats of her career this Saturday in the US Open 2026 final against Elena Rybakina. After losing the number 1 ranking to the Kazakh just a few days ago, the Belarusian tennis player watched as her main rival denied her another Grand Slam trophy just as happened at the Australian Open earlier this year. About this, Andy Roddick has spoken about how this result could impact her tennis in the coming months.
The situation Sabalenka is experiencing is very complicated. Until a few months ago, she was the clear dominant player on the women's circuit, but from the clay court season onwards, she began to suffer a crisis of results that extended until the US Open. In New York, she had the chance to redeem herself and win her first Grand Slam of the year, but Rybakina prevented that, and according to the former world number 1, this could be a very serious factor for the last months of the 2026 competition.
“I am curious to see how she adapts. I suspect it will be very difficult to motivate her in the final stretch. I suspect this defeat will be a hard blow for Sabalenka. It will be interesting to see how she recovers this year. There can be a lot of good tennis, but it is another tough three-set loss in a Grand Slam final,” he acknowledged on his podcast 'Served'. If she was already feeling somewhat burnt out with tennis, now this situation could worsen even more.
Has Sabalenka had a bad year?
Roddick also wanted to analyze whether Sabalenka has indeed had a bad year. The Belarusian player held the number 1 ranking for a large part of the year, won the 'Sunshine Double' in Indian Wells and Miami, and reached two Grand Slam finals. In general terms, it is not a disastrous season, but it is disappointing considering her aspirations.
“There are some uncertainties with Sabalenka, because this is a strange year to analyze in her case. Two Grand Slam finals, she won several Masters 1000, and defeated all the top players, and yet, no Grand Slams for the first time since 2022,” concluded Andy, who understands the disappointment she showed after the final, breaking her racket and being hostile to everyone.
“Now she has four Grand Slams and five final losses. All five defeats in Grand Slam finals have been in three sets. The game of possibilities is inevitable. It’s very easy to say, when analyzing those matches, that she could have won seven or eight Grand Slams, which places her in a privileged position within women's tennis,” the former world number 1 finished, acknowledging the great talent the Belarusian has despite seeing everything very bleak right now.
This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Roddick enciende las alarmas con Sabalenka