World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka has identified the most formidable strokes of her rivals on the WTA tour.
When asked about who performs each of the four key tennis strokes – forehand, backhand, serve, and return of serve – at the highest level, Sabalenka offered her insights.
“On a good day, I would say that I serve the best. Forehand – [Jannik] Sinner. Can I say that?” Sabalenka initially joked.
After being reminded to choose from the women’s tour, she laughed and responded, “Forehand? Backhand? I’m just so in love with myself on good days, I can’t think about other players, you know?”
She then thoughtfully added, “Wait, serve – Elena [Rybakina], when she is on form, for sure.”
Regarding the forehand, Sabalenka consulted her coach, and then exclaimed, “Oh right, Madison [Keys]!”
When prompted about the backhand and return, Sabalenka playfully struggled, saying, “Guys, you are killing me here. Coco [Gauff] is good. Thank you for helping me. Can someone help me? Let’s skip the question, I am answering so badly.”
However, she eventually decided, “Oh god. Iga [Swiatek] for return. Iga is good. Serve – I said Rybakina. Backhand and slice – [Ashleigh] Barty,” seemingly combining backhand and slice into one category, possibly due to Barty’s retirement and considering her all-court game.
The conversation then shifted to fitness, with a question about her fitness coach Jason Stacy’s jiu-jitsu background and its influence on her training. “I would say yes,” Sabalenka confirmed. “Part of our fitness is jiu-jitsu related. My core exercises are from there, and I like it. It’s like a full-body workout. I think it’s good for tennis players.”
She humorously added, “But my coach himself does jiu-jitsu, not very successfully though – he gets cramps in the first minute. But he tries.”
Sabalenka concluded with a lighthearted remark about her own jiu-jitsu participation, “I just don’t want to do it. As soon as I realize how strong I am and what I can do, I will probably go crazy. I think the team doesn’t want that, so they don’t really let me do [jiu-jitsu].”
“So we continue to play football and similar games,” Sabalenka stated during the press conference.
