Sablenka rationing her tournaments to preserve No. 1 career

Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka is beginning her clay season a bit later than usual after skipping the Stuttgart event to preserve her fitness and sanity.

The world No. 1 will make a start at the Madrid Masters defending a title after winning three trophies in the Spanish capital from four finals.

But the winner of three titles this season has been critical of what feels like a nonstop tournament schedule, with the 27-year-old putting heavy emphasis on more than just her shots.

“Mental health is really important, and I’ve been working with psychologists, I’ve been doing everything to stay mentally healthy,” Sabalenka said on Tuesday.

“It’s really important to, first of all, surround yourself with the people you feel comfortable with, you feel protected, and you just feel free to say whatever, to ask whatever, and to be free to chat with.”

She added: “It’s important to do stuff that brings you joy outside of this tennis world, sport world overall, because it’s a lot of pressure, a lot of expectations, a lot of things to deal with, to go through. 

“If you don’t have anything else outside of tennis, it’s really tough to stay in that pressure all the time. 

“I think it’s important to.. go for dinner, spend time with your friends, go shopping, just do something that is not related to sports. So your mind stays clear at least for half of your day.”

While apologising for skipping Stuttgart, the player said it was necessary with a pair of Grand Slam tests fast approaching.

“My body [has] been a little bit on and off, and I had to take some time off to recover, to do the right thing for my body, and that’s why this year looks a little bit less tournaments.

“Hopefully I will show up with my best tennis each time I’m competing.

”The ideal plan is to open up the schedule a bit, stay healthy and be better prepared to play my best tennis at every tournament”,