Aryna Sabalenka’s impressive 2026 season is marked by success, as she has reached the quarterfinals at the Brisbane International, a tournament in which she entered as the defending champion. The World No. 1, who will face the Australian Open champion in her next match, has highlighted that she will focus on her health and miss some tournaments, citing the length of the season.
Aryna Sabalenka Sets Her Priorities Straight for Her 2026 Season
Sabalenka entered the Brisbane International and has dominantly made her way to the quarterfinals after defeating Cristina Bucșa and Sorana Cîrstea. The No. 1 seed has set up a quarterfinal matchup against Madison Keys, who beat her in the 2025 Australian Open final to clinch the title; however, Sabalenka leads their head-to-head record with 5-2.
During her post-match press conference, Sabalenka joined the list of other WTA and ATP stars who have raised concerns about the duration of the season, which has proven detrimental to the mental and physical health of players, as they must manage a tight schedule to play back-to-back tournaments.
While sharing her thoughts, the Minsk native revealed that she will prioritise her health and will be absent from some tournaments to remain at her best for the long season. She expressed, “Well, the season is definitely insane, and that’s not good for all of us, as you see so many players getting injured and also the balls are quite heavy, so it’s a lot, yeah, a lot of struggle for all of us.”
Sabalenka continued sharing her last season’s challenges due to the schedule, “The rules are quite tricky with mandatory events, but I’m still doing that, like, I’m skipping couple events in order to protect my body, because I struggled a lot last season. Even though the results were really consistent, but some of the tournaments I had been playing completely sick or I’ve been really exhausted from overplaying.”
READ MORE: Aryna Sabalenka vs Madison Keys Preview: Head-to-Head, Prediction for Brisbane International 2026
Furthermore, Sabalenka also reflected that there is less protection for the players and that she might face fines, “So this season we will try to manage it a little bit better, even though they are going to fine me by the end of the season. But it’s tricky to do that. You cannot skip like 1000 event. It’s really tricky, and I think that’s insane what they do. I think they just follow their interests, but they’re not focusing on protecting all of us.”
Apart from her, American stars Coco Gauff, Taylor Fritz, Karolina Muchova, Carlos Alcaraz, and Iga Świątek have raised concerns about the length of the season and its impact on the players.
