Keeping faith in the consistent but fallible Aryna Sabalenka

So the US Open has been and gone, and what a fairytale for Coco Gauff, who went from being an 8-year-old kid dancing in the stands at Flushing Meadows to the US Open champion a little over a decade later. 

And while the youngest American US Open champion since Serena Williams in 1999 is naturally the name on everyone’s lips right now, I am urging punters to keep the faith with Aryna Sabalenka.  

That final felt like a microcosm of her career to date and blended perfectly the sublime and ridiculous. She was absolutely red hot in the first set, but then slowly and surely the doubts, distress and disquiet began to surface.

Inner battles are common in professional tennis, an industry in which rejection is currency and the slings and arrows of fame and fortune are constantly interchanging for anyone brave enough to bet their talent (and self-esteem) on its bright lights.

Sabalenka is such a fascinating athlete, a thunderous mix of power and flamboyance but also someone who is vulnerable at her core. She puts so much into matches and it feels sometimes like she hits every shot as if it might be her last. The Belarusian’s career has slalomed between death and glory since she first burst onto the scene in 2015, and as a result, it is always a wild ride. 

Her state of mind on court perpetually seems to be mild crisis mixed with fiery determination. It is absolute box office but no good for the ticker or nerves of any punter brave enough to have lumped on her. Out on the court, she can move deftly between intimidation, charm and stoicism.

Her ability to be tough and brooding but also sensitive, and distinctly fallible is part of her appeal. Gracious in defeat, she shows sportsmanship to her opponents at the end of every match win or lose.

Gauff was excellent in that final, but having backed ‘The Warrior Princess’ at 11/2 for the title a few months ago it was absolutely heart-breaking to see her hitting so many unforced errors – and the change in her body language - as the crowd got louder and louder. 

A voracity for hitting harder and harder through the ball when the pressure is on is something she perhaps needs to work on. Maybe there is a need to add some variety. In Alcoholics Anonymous, they say that the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

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However, I am a glass-half-full type and she must be doing something right as she is now the World No 1. Indeed when she opened her 2023 campaign back in January, she was probably more preoccupied with getting a few first serves in after a 2022 campaign where she often struggled to serve a ball into the box with any kind of regularity. 

However, her win at the Australian Open changed everything and nine months later she became the 29th World No.1 in tour history, usurping Iga Swiatek, who had held the position for 75 consecutive weeks.  

For amid the chaos, there is also consistency. She has not missed a quarter-final in the last five Grand Slams and while all the talk now is of Gauff and yet another changing of the guard in women’s tennis, don’t sleep on Sabalenka, who is 5/1 with Planet Sport Bet to retain her title in Melbourne in January. 

I fancy her to take the New York ‘L’ and come back stronger, so do yourself a favour and make backing Aryna to win the Australian Open at 5’s one of your early New Year's resolutions. 

Tip: Sabalenka to win the Australian Open at 5/1 (Planet Sport Bet)