Aryna Sabalenka has come under fire from her fans for appearing to switch her focus from tennis – just as the world number 1 faces a difficult period on the court as her ranking is threatened.
The US Open champion has had a challenging mid-season after completing an unprecedented ‘Sunshine Double’ with victories at Spring at Indian Wells and the Miami Open.
The Belarusian star became frustrated with both French Open And Wimbledon in the quarter-finals and round of 16 respectively, then failed to advance past the third round in Montreal at the Canadian Open earlier this month.
In the midst of a slight dip in form, however, fans were quick to notice that her talent for posting on social media has experienced no such dip, with Sabalenka continuing to share snapshots of her life on tour and summer vacation in Greece, as well as content for sponsors such as Gucci and luxury jewelry brand Material Good and a photo shoot for the cover of TIME magazine.
Sabalenka has been widely watched for a long time TikTok user and is eager to join the platform’s viral dance craze, and has also experimented with longer-form content over the past two seasons with her Aryna’s Arena vlog on YouTube.
Aryna Sabalenka has been criticized by supporters for appearing to focus too much on her social media personality
During a challenging part of the season, Sabalenka has continued to share episodes of her vlog Aryna’s Arena (left) and behind-the-scenes content from her photo shoot in TIME Magazine
But while sharing a promo for a recent episode cataloging her Mykonos vacation, Sabalenka was criticized by supporters who called on her to shift her focus.
“Please, more tennis and less phones,” one commenter wrote, while another suggested there were “lots of photos, little tennis.”
A third suggested she had ‘too many distractions with the jewelery and stuff… focus on sport or give it up’.
One troll added that she should “quit the sport and start doing TikTok dances.”
While somewhat ridiculous that critics online might consider a season in which a player has reached the Australian Open final and won back-to-back WTA1000 events worthy of retirement, Sabalenka does have a rival nipping at her heels in the rankings.
Elena Rybakina – who defeated Sabalenka in Melbourne this year – is just 345 points behind the 28-year-old after rising to world number 2 in March.
The Kazakh reached the final in Montreal last week, where she lost to Iga Swiatek, but if she won in Cincinnati, Rybakina could still depose Sabalenka.
One positive for Sabalenka is that she has fewer points to defend in Ohio after amassing 215 points when she reached the quarterfinals last year.
After reaching the semi-finals in 2025, Rybakina has 390 points to defend but has already booked her place in the fourth round after beating Magdalena Frech on Monday.
Trolls and supporters alike flooded Sabalenka’s comments to give their verdict on her output
Some were offended by Sabalenka’s decision to promote her jewelry partnership with American brand Material Good
Sabalenka hopes to join her there on Tuesday when she meets Wang
Ahead of the start of the tournament, Sabalenka admitted her status meant she had a target on her back for tour rivals, but insisted this was not limited to her No. 1 ranking.
“You can look at this as if you’re defending something, but to be honest, you have the target on your back,” Sabalenka said when asked about Rybakina’s ability to leapfrog her if she wins the title.
“Everyone wants to beat you, but I think it’s the same if you’re No. 1, No. 2, No. 10. It doesn’t really matter what the rankings are when you go on the field, everyone wants to beat you.
“I love having the target on my back. I like to see that the young generation looks up to me and is inspired by me, but I also feel that they will be inspired if I am a little lower in the rankings.
‘Hopefully it will never happen. As long as I focus on developing myself as a player and as a person, the ranking doesn’t matter that much.’
Even if Rybakina doesn’t reach the final next week, her threat to Sabalenka’s position could still advance to the US Open, where her rival is the defending champion.
Should the Belarusian fail to retain her title in New York, Rybakina could be in a position to claim the No. 1 spot, with an improvement on her finish in the round of 16 last year.
Elena Rybakina has numerous chances in the United States to topple Sabalenka’s dominant 96-week streak at world No. 1
For those concerned that her poor form was a result of her online presence, Sabalenka corrected the details as she spoke TIME.
Instead, she revealed that participating in TikTok dances and sharing clips online has had a positive impact on her mental health.
“You just forget everything,” she revealed. “You’re trying to dance, move your body, so for those thirty, forty minutes, sometimes an hour, you’re just focused on one thing and not thinking about other things. It’s like a little getaway.’
About her critics, she added, “Sometimes I go to their profile and see how perfect they are.
“And I’m like, ‘Dude, figure out your own problems first before jumping into other people’s lives.’
