Sabalenka eyes Serena-like dominance in the power game

A sparkling 2024 in which Aryna Sabalenka swept the hardcourt Grand Slams and clinched the year-end world number one ranking has left the powerful Belarusian dreaming of dominating the women’s game as Serena Williams did for so long.Once best known for a propensity to lose her cool on court, Sabalenka has transformed her game to become a ruthlessly effective player capable of blowing opponents away in a style reminiscent of Serena in her prime.After her major breakthrough at last year’s Australian Open, the 26-year-old retained the Melbourne title in January before adding the US Open crown to her trophy cabinet in September, leapfrogging Iga Swiatek in the rankings last month.Sabalenka’s New York run meant she had reached at least the semi-finals at nine of her last 12 Grand Slams – form reminiscent of Serena’s 10 last-four appearances between 2014 and 2017 when the American landed six of her 23 major titles."I always wanted to dominate the tour like Serena did, like Iga was able to do for so long,” Sabalenka told Arab News ahead of the season-ending WTA Finals, where she sealed the year-end top spot despite a semi-final loss to Coco Gauff."It’s really inspiring ... but I’m trying to focus on myself, on improving myself, to make sure that I have all of the tools to dominate the tour as they did.”A sign that Sabalenka was more at ease with the suffocating pressure at the top of the game came when she made a tradition of signing the bald head of her trainer before matches on her run to her second title in Melbourne in January.She won over American fans in her US Open title clash with home hope Jessica Pegula, producing spectacular shot-making that showcased power and poise thanks to the drop shots she added to her growing arsenal."Five years ago if someone told me I’ll finally learn how to do this shot, I’d be laughing,” Sabalenka said. "I don’t have touch. I’m so bad at it. Now I have this shot in my pocket. It brings a lot of pressure on opponents, because now they know they have even more variation.”