{"id":2085272,"date":"2026-08-09T20:15:33","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T17:15:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2085272"},"modified":"2026-08-09T20:15:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T17:15:33","slug":"aryna-sabalenka-alarm-bells-ringing-as-former-british-no-1-makes-worrying-aura-claim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2085272","title":{"rendered":"Aryna Sabalenka alarm bells ringing as former British No 1 makes worrying aura claim"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"ps-article-content rounded-lg lg:mt-5 lg:border lg:border-card lg:bg-card lg:shadow-primary\">\n<header>\n<h1 class=\"py-4 text-xl font-normal text-title sm:text-2xl\">Aryna Sabalenka alarm bells ringing as former British No 1 makes worrying aura claim<\/h1>\n<div class=\"my-2 flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/author\/kevin-palmer\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Kevin Palmer                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"09 Aug 2026 9:15 PM\" data-ps-date=\"09 Aug 2026 9:15 PM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1786306533\"><br \/>\n                            09 Aug 2026 9:15 PM                        <\/time>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden justify-end space-x-4 text-xl sm:flex sm:!opacity-100\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_dark.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                            <img 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                      <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_dark.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 dark:hidden h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_light.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <button id=\"t365-article-share-btn-hidden\" class=\"mr-2 hidden h-6 w-6 appearance-none border-none !text-share-icon outline-none hover:!text-share-icon-active sm:hidden\" data-title=\"Aryna Sabalenka alarm bells ringing as former British No 1 makes worrying aura claim\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/button>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5 border-b border-page\"><\/div>\n<section>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5\">\n<figure class=\"aspect-h-9 aspect-w-16 relative\">\n                                        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1320\" height=\"742\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"w-full h-full object-cover object-center !my-0\" src=\"https:\/\/d2me2qg8dfiw8u.cloudfront.net\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Saba-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Aryna Sabalenka and Greg Rusedski\">                <\/figure><figcaption class=\"flex items-center space-x-3 border-b border-mobile-caption px-3 lg:border-caption\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-1.5 break-words !text-xs !text-content\">\n                                Aryna Sabalenka and Greg Rusedski                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\"><!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p>World No 1 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/aryna-sabalenka\">Aryna Sabalenka<\/a>\u2019s worrying slide in fortunes continued with a surprise defeat at the Canadian Open in Toronto and now former British No 1 Greg Rusedski has claimed the aura she had a year ago has slipped.<\/p>\n<p>Ekaterina Alexandrova defeated Sabalenka 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4 in a match that concluded in two hours and 29 minutes, with the vulnerabilities Sabalenka has been showing on display again in this latest setback.<\/p>\n<p>She may have saved a couple of match points with bold serves at the end of the third set, but a double fault handed Alexandrova a win and the post-mortem on another setback is now underway.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just tried to play every single point as if it was the last one because with her, you don\u2019t have a lot of chances during the match,\u201d said Alexandrova. \u201cI had a lot today, but I couldn\u2019t realise some of them. But honestly, I was trying not to think about the score or anything. Just hit the ball, and that\u2019s it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m super happy that I could win because after the second set, I thought (the chance) was already past me.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>More Tennis News<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/us-open\/aryna-sabalenka-us-open-dress-youtube-show\">Aryna Sabalenka snaps back at critics of her US Open dress as she releases YouTube show<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-features\/wta-cincinnati-open-how-many-points-sabalenka-rybakina-gauff-swiatek-paolini-eala-drop\">WTA Cincinnati Open: Points Sabalenka, Rybakina, Gauff, Swiatek, Paolini, Eala will drop<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sabalenka became increasingly more frustrated as the threat of defeat rushed towards her against Alexandrova and Rusedski has now given his punchy verdict on the problem that is undermining the world\u2019s top-ranked female tennis player.<\/p>\n<p>She powered to victory at last year\u2019s US Open, but has been struggling to maintain that form over the last year and is now clearly suffering from a dip in confidence.<\/p>\n<p>After joking she wanted to \u2018quit tennis\u2019 after her French Open defeat against Diana Shnaider and then offering up more gloomy comments as she lost to Naomi Osaka at Wimbledon, Rusedski feels her opponents are seeing cracks in Sabalenka\u2019s make-up on court.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA year ago, players would step on court with her and it was only the very, very top players being able to beat her, the players in the top five or in the top ten,\u201d said <a rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LbqUuR-akKw\">Rusedski on the latest edition of his podcast.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow all of a sudden they\u2019re seeing Sabalenka lose and they\u2019re seeing (her opponents) the comment she\u2019s making. And that just gives them belief.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo when they step on the court, they think to themselves, I got a shot to beat the world number one. You\u2019re losing one or two or three points a match because the attitude of your opponents have changed when they walk on court and that\u2019s difficult to get back.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Want more from Tennis365? Add us as <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\">a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not hitting the panic button yet, but Cincinnati\u2019s gonna be big for her. She needs to win that event if she\u2019s gonna come out and win the US Open.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s gotta make a statement to the locker room because the locker room is starting to believe that they can beat her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sabalenka will head into next week\u2019s Cincinnati Open as the top seed, but she is not the favourite to win the tournament on current form.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ NEXT: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/aryna-sabalenka-positive-despite-early-exit-canadian-open\">Aryna Sabalenka has a reason to be positive despite suffering another early exit at the Canadian Open<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End --><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aryna Sabalenka alarm bells ringing as former British No 1 makes worrying aura claim Kevin Palmer 09 Aug 2026 9:15 PM Aryna Sabalenka and Greg Rusedski World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka\u2019s worrying slide in fortunes continued with a surprise defeat at the Canadian Open in Toronto and now former British No 1 Greg Rusedski has [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,249],"class_list":["post-2085272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-tennis365-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2085272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2085272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2085272\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2085272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2085272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2085272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}