Aryna Sabalenka has a very aggressive playstyle, which former WTA player Ashleigh Barty correctly described 'as the ability to blow anyone away.'
When you watch the Belarusian play, it does seem that way, even though it sounds funny. Her tremendous power from the baseline quite literally blows people off the court. Just look at her recent result in Melbourne. She bested Ella Seidel 6-0 6-1 in the opening round.
Then she defeated Brenda Fruhvirotva 6-3 6-2 in the next round and then demolished Lesia Tsurenko 6-0 6-0 with the most recent match against Amanda Anisimova pretty impressive as well 6-3 6-2.
That's quite dominant. Ashleigh Barty seems to agree with that as somebody who used to play against Sabalenka and lost more than a few matches. By the time Barty retired, the H2H score was 4-4, with Sabalenka winning their final match in Madrid in 2021.
Speaking to the Tennis Channel about Sabalenka, Barty showered the Belarusian with praise.
"It's a wide-open tournament. Purely from the little bits and pieces I've seen, I think Sabalenka is one to beat. I mean Aryna has so far swept through the draw relatively easily. She's been confident, she's been clear, and she's been dominant."
She has been really dominant, but not just at this event. Her first event of the year was Brisbane, where she equally dominated all her opponents to make the final.
Elena Rybakina bested her in that final, but that's not a problem. She has to think about it anymore in Melbourne cause she's out already. As Barty said, she's the one to beat.
"When she's in that kind of form it's really hard to knock her off. She's got the ability to blow anyone away and if she keeps going the way she's been going I think that she's the one to beat."
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