Aryna Sabalenka lost her first match in over a month at the WTA Finals against Elena Rybakina, and the Belarusian admitted to lacking motivation during the defeat.
Sabalenka had already qualified for the semifinals of the WTA Finals after defeating Qinwen Zheng and Jasmine Paolini in her opening two round-robin stage matches.
The 26-year-old also received great news before playing Rybakina. Her place as the season-end No. 1 was sealed after Iga Swiatek lost to Coco Gauff for just the second time in 13 matches on Wednesday.
Sabalenka knew before the tournament that winning her three round-robin matches would have been enough to secure the year-end No. 1 spot regardless of Swiatek's performance in her contests.
However, any pressure was entirely relinquished after Gauff beat the Pole. The No. 1 ranking and her place in the semifinals already being safe meant the match did not have much meaning to Sabalenka.
Rybakina also had nothing to play for on paper after losing against Paolini and Zheng. That meant the 2022 Wimbledon Champion could not qualify even if she beat Sabalenka.
Despite nothing significant riding on the match, Sabalenka was still the favorite to triumph. Rybakina had not played a match in over two months before the WTA Finals due to physical issues such as insomnia and allergies.
The Kazakhstani was also nowhere close to her best in the opening two matches. However, Rybakina did improve against Zheng, taking the Chinese player to a deciding set, and hoped to make it difficult for Sabalenka before the match.
Rybakina did more than just make it challenging for Sabalenka. The 25-year-old defeated the world No. 1 6-6-4, 3-6, 6-1. Her level in the third set, in particular, was outstanding, and it would have been hard for any player to stop her.
Speaking after the loss to Rybakina, Sabalenka admitted to struggling with only having points and prize money to play for during the match and thinks she needs to fix that before the semifinal.
"Well, honestly, this is something I have to learn. How to keep myself motivated and hungry and being 100% on in this kind of matches when you know that you're already in the semis and the only motivation for you is points and money. But that was tricky."
"And you see someone up on another side, and especially with such a high-level player who has kind of like nothing to lose, and she was just going for her shots and everything was going in."
"I would say that emotionally, the first set, I was kind of off -- not kind of -- I was really off, and that's something I have to fix before the semis."
Sabalenka's disappointment with her attitude after the match shows what a perfectionist she is. Many players would simply move on without thinking much after a contest of minor importance, but that is not the Belarusian's mindset.
That loss might actually be bad news for her semifinal opponent since it could refocus Sabalenka and bring out her best tennis.
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