Aryna Sabalenka has been described as a raw power hitter ever since she entered tennis, and she certainly backed that up in 2023.
Not so long ago, we heard how tennis was shifting to a more power-based approach. It made sense because all of the players that were at the top mostly focused on hitting the ball as strongly as possible.
There are advantages to that as well. Most serves in women's tennis are not that powerful, and it allows you to attack. If you're able to attack with force and early, you're basically guaranteed the point.
It's how Serena Williams could dominate for as long as she did in sport. She simply had more power than anybody else and bullied her opponents on the court consistently.
Jelena Ostapenko has played like that for years, as has Sabalenka, who is probably known as the player with the most power right now. She certainly backed that up in 2023, finishing as the player with the most winners at Grand Slams from players competing on the WTA Tour.
There are other great hitters, of course, but Sabalenka emerged on top for several reasons. She plays a very risky style that usually says her end the point, either through a winner or unforced error.
She also played by far the most matches at Grand Slams out of all the players listed on the list of players with the most winners. For example, Sabalenka tops the list with 754, which is quite a bit.
Since she played 26 matches at Grand Slams, it basically equates to 29 winners per match. Take number two on that list, Ons Jabeur, who finished with 519 winners.
She played only 18 matches at Grand Slams, making her average per match number 28.8, so basically the same. Unfortunately for her, she didn't play enough matches to overtake Sabalenka.
Ostapenko was number 3 with 459, and her average per-match number was 32.7. She actually performed better on average but only played 14 Grand Slam matches.
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