Aryna Sabalenka recently became the World No.1 again, displacing Iga Swiatek ahead of the WTA Finals 2024 in Riyadh. As the 2024 season is nearing its end, Sabalenka has shared another co-incidence with Jannik Sinner. Both Sabalenka and Sinner have won the Australian Open, Cincinnati Open and the US Open titles simultaneously. In fact, when Sinner won the Shanghai Masters, Sabalenka clinched the Wuhan Open title days later.
Both the players are at the top of their game and ironically, the duo could make the most controversial pair of World No.1 tennis players in the history of the sport. Sabalenka belongs to Belarus and due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, she has been denied the right to play under her country’s flag at any tournament or tennis event.
This can be considered one of the major reasons why she bowed out of the Paris 2024 Olympics since she wouldn’t have been able to contribute to her nation’s medal tally. Largely due to her country’s political wrangling, Sabalenka has been away from her home country, permanently residing in Miami.
No other World No.1 in women’s tennis in many years before Sabalenka, has been under the spotlight for her nationality. To top it all, Sabalenka’s current ascent to the top was not without controversy either as it occured largely due to a penalty Iga Swiatek received from the WTA.
Sabalenka also had to deal with a lot of adversity surrounding the mysterious death of her ex-boyfriend at her hometown in Miami at the start of 2024. It was a battle of mental fortitude and she came out of it with flying colors.
Sinner, on the other hand, has been facing many fans’ and players’ wrath ever since he was declared innocent of doping by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), after testing positive for Clostebol in March this year.
Even then, a dissatisfied World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) asking for a 2-year ban on the Italian. So Sinner playing for the Italian flag is now being frowned upon by many.
Like Sabalenka, Sinner too didn’t play in the Olympics, citing tonsillitis as the reason behind it. With this controversy though, many are suspicious that the World No.1 was scared of being caught at the multi-sporting event by doping authorities, which is why he skipped it.
When it comes to his personal life too, Sinner has been as much in the news as the Belarusian as he declared his love for Anna Kalinskaya, who is Nick Kyrgios ex-girlfriend.
And there is more when it comes to Sinner and Sabalenka surprising many in one major aspect, forehand speeds during their title-winning US Open campaigns.
Sinner and Sabalenka at the top of forehand speeds at US Open 2024
Sabalenka is known for her powerful striking of the ball. However, her topspin forehand stunned the sporting community by averaging 80 mph. What makes this even more impressive is that the top three players on the ATP Tour – Sinner, Novak Djokovic, and Carlos Alcaraz – averaged less than Sabalenka during the New York-based Grand Slam.
‘I saw my stats on my forehand and I actually can’t believe it’s that fast. It felt even kind of uncomfortable being at the top and hitting harder than guys’
Aryna Sabalenka on having the fastest average forehand at the US Open! pic.twitter.com/xHf1yMmRsT
— 365Scores (@365Scores) September 4, 2024
Both Sinner and Sabalenka have impressed with their tennis skills and mental skills too by overcoming adversities in the most successful season of their respective careers.
Ofcourse, this is assuming that Sinner is not found guilty by the WADA for doping. Although Sinner admitted recently that he is not in the best place right now, he managed to win the Shanghai Masters and 6 Kings Slam, immediately after WADA’s appeal.
Sinner and Sabalenka have a long way to go in proving that they deserve to be No.1 and defending champions in the tournaments they have won this year. It remains to be seen whether they can overcome their issues to remain at the top of their game in the 2025 season and beyond.
