Sabalenka now a 'totally different' player after overcoming serve demons according to McEnroe: "Shows you mentally how tough she is"

John McEnroe thinks that Aryna Sabalenka is a totally different player right now after overcoming pretty serious serving issues that plagued her last year.

Sabalenka dealt with major serve issues last year having multiple matches where she would commit 10+ double faults. Those problems are now behind her as she gears up to possibly snatch away the number one rank from Swiatek at Roland Garros. She became a grand slam champion earlier this year as well which was a big step for her.

Speaking about Sabalenka, McEnroe talked about the serve:

“As far as the actual technique, I don't think there's very much that's different. I think that at times, she maybe play a little safer, rightfully when the nerves get in the way, and just gets the serve in. And then other times, she's trying to sort of hit bigger on the second serve, the complete opposite, to try to just sort of go for it."

He added:

“And so it seems like she's found that sort of happy medium of where to be, but it still feels like it can be an issue. And I think that the serve is the most important shot in tennis. So no matter who you are, I think people look at how well you're serving. Look at [Daniil] Medvedev, all of a sudden he realised, ‘oh, if you have a big service it's important on clay too’."