Inside the mindset of world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka; Iga Swiatek; Rod Laver Arena; Ash Barty; WTA Tour; Wimbledon

Her on-court results were spectacular in 2024.

A shoulder injury caused Sabalenka to withdraw from Wimbledon, but she won the Australian Open and US Open titles, as well as WTA 1000 events in Cincinnati and Wuhan, and reached the Roland-Garros quarter-finals.

She also made the Brisbane, Madrid and Rome finals, so the powerful Belarusian was consistently at the pointy end of tournaments.

Sabalenka’s excellence was rewarded when she returned to the top ranking in October for the first time in a year.

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That came during the Asian hardcourt swing when Swiatek was sidelined, which the tennis world discovered later owed to her being provisionally suspended after testing positive to banned substance trimetazidine.

Swiatek successfully argued that her result came from contaminated melatonin pills, which she uses to ward off jet lag. Sabalenka’s Polish rival received a 30-day ban that included time served, and has been free to play since early December.

“Nobody knew what was going on … so, honestly, I have no comments on that situation,” Sabalenka said.

“I focused on myself and improving as a player, and it’s not like I became No.1 in just that period. The whole year, I was working hard, and winning a lot of tournaments and putting her under pressure, so she had to stay on the high level to keep her position.

“Whatever happened to her, I believe in a clean sport. People always overreact when they see something without trying to figure what actually happened and understand the player.

“They’re always going to find things to judge someone successful. So, I prefer to believe that there is a clean sport and she’s innocent. If they prove that, it means that she is innocent.”

Sabalenka and Swiatek have been the WTA Tour’s dominant players since Australia’s Ash Barty retired as the then-world No.1 shortly after winning the 2022 Australian Open.

They have developed a strong rivalry, so it was fascinating to see them set that aside to train together in Abu Dhabi last month while there for the World Tennis League team exhibition.

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“I feel like when you first start getting to that top-five level, you are always trying to stay away from everybody,” Sabalenka said.

“It’s not like I was against her, or rude to her. I think everyone just focuses on themselves. But when you get to a certain point, you can take it easier, and not become best friends, but at least we can practice together.

“It’s going to help each other, to improve each other, to push each other to the next level. It’s really cool to practice with someone you have a rivalry with.”

Swiatek’s training intensity rubbed off on Sabalenka, who said she was forced to raise the bar against the five-time major champion.

They will arrive in Melbourne with contrasting histories at the year’s opening grand slam, which starts next Sunday.

Swiatek’s best result is a semi-final in 2022, but she lost in the third and fourth round, respectively, the past two years, whereas Sabalenka will bid to become the first woman since Swiss great Martina Hingis in 1999 to win the Australian Open three straight times.

“Honestly, I didn’t know about that until probably a few days ago when I saw a tweet,” Sabalenka said.

“It’s cool to achieve such an incredible goal and dream of so many young players … if I’ll be able to bring my best tennis, I know that I’m able to do that.”

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