Suffering two consecutive defeats in the new season and losing to players ranked around 100, the women's singles world second-place Sabarenka's performance was a surprise.
On January 11, Beijing time, the second leg of the 2022 WTA250 Adelaide ended the first round of women's singles, and Sabalenka relied on wild cards to successfully enter the main tournament. However, because of her poor form, in the first round of matches, as the top seed of the tournament, she lost to Petersen, who was ranked 93 in the world, 5-7, 6-1, 7-5.
Throughout the game, the key reason for the Belarusian's loss was the inexplicable disappearance of the once proud violent serve technique, issuing a total of 21 double errors, and still missing the first win of the new season after three sets.
Sabalenka's defeat completed Peterson's first career victory over the world's top five players. The last time Peterson beat the world's top ten players, it was back in the first round of the 2019 Washington Tournament, when she defeated the tournament's top seed, American Stephens, 6-2, 9-7.
"It was the strangest game I've ever played." Peterson said in an interview after his victory over Sabalenka, "I know she's in a slump and she's been making adjustments. I've had a similar experience before, and it was really tough. ”
The most surprising thing is that because of the poor state of the serve, Sabalenka also tried to serve the ball in the game. Although the move of the world's second place is still within the scope of the rules, as a promising new star, the decline in warm-up status at the beginning of the 2022 season is so serious that it is inevitable to feel sad.
In fact, the Belarusian's performance in the 2021 season is commendable. With a total of 45 wins and 18 losses throughout the year, it is at the forefront of the WTA players. In particular, the victory over the world number one Barty in the Madrid Open, the women's singles title and the Wimbledon promotion to the final four are the biggest highlights.
Moving on to the 2022 season, after a long winter training period, she seems to be still hibernating. In the first leg in Adelaide last week, Sabalenka was eliminated by the world's 100th-ranked Yuwan in two sets, with a total of 18 double errors.
For his own abnormal serve, Sabalenka even shed tears on the field. Between matches, the camera captured her repeatedly covering her face with a towel and crying.
When the referee asked Sabalenka if there was a problem with his physical condition, she replied: "Nothing, there is a problem with my serve technique and I can't play at the moment." ”
Similar to Sabalenka, Svitolina also suffered two consecutive defeats in the new season. In this game, the Ukrainian lost to Case 2-6, 4-6, swallowing four consecutive New Year's Eve defeats. (Source: Tennis House Author: Wu Li Fun)