"I'm kind of all over the place: Aryna Sabalenka highlights reason behind poor outing in Dubai, Doha

World number one Aryna Sabalekna has opened up about the reason for her early exit from the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships 2025. The 26-year-old, who is already regarded as the best player currently playing in women’s tennis in the singles category, has suffered a surprising defeat in the round of 16 to Denmark’s Clara Tauson in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-2.

It was Sabalenka’s second consecutive defeat in the early stages of a WTA event. Before coming to Dubai, the reigning world number one suffered a defeat in the first round of the Qatar Open Ekaterina Alexandrova with a score of 3-6, 6-3, 7-6.

Sabalenka has been recently quoted in a report by The National where she spoke in detail about the reason behind disappointing performances in the recent past. The Minsk-born stated that one of the reasons is because she has not been that ‘hungry on court’. She also further to admit that currently, she is ‘all over the place’ and stated that she also understands that the decisions she is taking on the court are ‘not my best’.

“I believe that I'm not that hungry on court,” said Sabalenka. “I'm kind of all over the place in my thoughts and not consistent on the court. The decisions I'm making on the court are a bit wrong and emotionally, I'm not on my best. I'd say that for the last couple of years, I'm not doing well in the Middle East. I believe we need to change something in the preparation,” said the three-time Grand Slam champion. Every time I don't feel well playing here. Even health-wise I'm struggling. Australia always taking a lot of energy out of me.I believe we just need to think with the team for the future how we can improve or get better in the preparation for the Middle East.”