"She has programmed many layers of negativity between the ears has has lost confidence" - Aryna Sabalenka on a 'slippery slope' after WTA Finals demise

Aryna Sabalenka's demise at the WTA Finals has, to an extent, summed up her tumultuous 2026 campaign. It has been full of heartache and terrible collapses that have seen her produce a level at times nowhere near her usual self. Early exits have been the norm, and the negatively installed inside of herself is eating her alive and seeing her mess up even more on court, according to former tennis coach Rick Macci.

It was last chance saloon for Sabalenka at the WTA Finals. It is still one of the only big tournaments that she has not won yet, reaching the final in 2022 and 2025 but falling short. She returned for the sixth consecutive year hopeful she could emulate her form from earlier on in 2026 at Indian Wells and taste more success in California.

It began well, finding a way past Karolina Muchova. However, her staggering loss of form against Mirra Andreeva in the second match was a replica of other defeats Sabalenka had been on the end of this season. 11 games lost in a row after leading 4-1, and her WTA Finals hopes were now in the balance.

She would play Elina Svitolina in her final match. The equation was simple. The winner advances and faces Linda Noskova in the semi-finals. The loser goes home. For Sabalenka, it would be the latter, and a first round robin exit at the WTA Finals since her debut back in 2021. Four seasons in a row she managed to better the best players in the world in this format, but that is no longer the case.

The Belarusian seized the initiative early on but would win just one more game in the opening set as Svitolina closed in on glory. A positive response gave Sabalenka some hope, but that was very quickly extinguished after going a break up in the third. Svitolina broke back, and Sabalenka was automatically pinned against the wall. She showed great signs of frustration and annoyance when on court, and that may have played a factor when the 2018 champion won the final six games to advance into the semi-finals, winning 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

It was the Ukrainian's first win over Sabalenka 2020. While she will be getting a lot of praise and applause for taking down the World No.2, the mood around Sabalenka is much different. Her season has come to an end with a whimper, and there are more questions unanswered than answered.

Macci went onto X after the final round robin match and delved into the reasons why the four-time Grand Slam champion had lost her spark on court. "Sabalenka is on the very slippery slope with her career," he admitted. "Her strength has now become her weakness. A brutal competitor anytime anywhere against anybody now she checks out at Publix on a regular basis and competes against herself."

He highighted how if plan A was not working, she seemed to become stuck real quickly. "Because her defense is average and very few tools in the tool box for adaptations or plan B we will see real quick in 2027 what happens next for Saby."

Not just on the court with her tennis actions, but the mental side has been questioned. Macci, who enjoyed a legendary coaching career overseeing the likes of Williams sisters, Andy Roddick, Jennifer Capriati and Maria Sharapova, blasted the 28-year-old in this aspect, specifically her toxic nature at times.

"Sabalenka is injecting so much toxic words and actions into her subconscious on a regular basis it has now set up shop in there open for business," he wrote. "As an athlete one of the worst things you can do is make fun of yourself. Negative thoughts and actions create negative results."

It is not a permanent downward spiral for Sabalenka, but a lot of temporary damage has been done. "She can turn this around real quick but her personality has always been a live wire even when she dominated. But now she has programmed many layers of negativity between the ears has has lost confidence and created many doubts and fears."

Sabalenka's 2026 campaign has come to an end. No Grand Slam titles, with two final defeats in Melbourne and New York to Elena Rybakina, two titles at the Sunshine swing but no other pieces of silverware to back it up, and to top it all off, a continuous streak of early exits in big tournaments, culminating at the WTA Finals. 2027 cannot come soon enough for her, but that does not mean she will be automatically back at her best. Set to drop outside the top two in the WTA Rankings, the road back up to the top will be a gruelling one.