The secret to an 80-mph forehand? Aryna Sabalenka talks technique, biomechanics in Wuhan

WUHAN, China—Aryna Sabalenka lit up the stat board on her way to winning the 2024 US Open, striking forehands with an average 80-mph speed that surpassed the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, and Novak Djokovic.

Sabalenka confirmed the secret to hitting the single heaviest groundstroke in the game at the Dongfeng Voyah Wuhan Open on Thursday, revealing biomechanic coach Gavin MacMillan tweaked the shot in much the same way that he famously fixed her serve.

“I'm really glad that happened to my serve,” she recalled of a prolonged battle with serving yips that nearly derailed her 2022 season. “I was forced to hire someone like Gavin. I was forced to learn something new.”

MacMillan began working with Sabalenka that summer, and the results were almost immediate as she reached the US Open semifinals, finished runner-up at the WTA Finals, and won the first of her now-three major titles at the Australian Open the following January.

Before I was trying to over-rush things, try to run to the ball, meet it earlier...but in my case, I have to actually wait for the shot and wait for the right moment to actually hit the forehand, to make that rotation, which gives me much more power and control on the shot. Aryna Sabalenka

With much of the focus on her vastly improved serve, few have noted the overall improvements to her ground game, which have combined to make her a consistent threat to the No. 1 ranking over the last 24 months.

“I would say before I was trying to over-rush things, try to run to the ball, meet it earlier, which actually makes sense, to take time from the opponent,” she explained after surviving good friend Yulia Putintseva to win a 14th straight match in Wuhan. “But in my case, I have to actually wait for the shot and wait for the right moment to actually hit the forehand, to make that rotation, which gives me much more power and control on the shot.

“I mean, probably I'm not the best one to explain in English what I mean. You can talk more to Gavin. He can explain you a bit more in details.”

In an interview with Performance-Plus Tennis, MacMillan indeed explained some of the specifics behind crafting the one-two punch that has made Sabalenka the most relentlessly offense-minded player on tour.

“The footwork wasn’t right, but it was linear, so everything was really back and forward,” he said earlier this year. “She wasn’t getting her arm coiled, she wasn’t getting the racquet head vertical enough times…when the racquet’s vertical, the hand can roll around the wrist, the forearm rolls around the elbow, and the humerus rotates around the shoulder and whips out. With contact, she’s really gotten a lot better coming around the ball as opposed to driving it, because otherwise you’re actually decelerating. Now the arm can accelerate.

“In the [2023 Australian Open] final against [Elena] Rybakina, the forehand was the difference, a heavy deep forehand that you know you can make under pressure and puts pressure on the opponent. That’s the short that wins tournaments. It’s not the freaky [Carlos] Alcaraz winners that he’s so capable of, but what he does to you extraordinarily well is puts you under pressure with your basic rally shot, what you know you can make when it matters.”

MacMillan believes that basic rally shot is essential to long-term confidence and match toughness, putting him at odds with what he views as an over-reliance on sports psychology and resulting proliferation of athlete mental coaches.

Are there mental challenges to tennis? Of course, there are. But if you don’t have the skills to execute shots, it doesn’t matter what your strategy is. Gavin MacMillan, biomechanic coach

“Tennis is a mental sport, but your mind knows whether you can execute something right or when you can’t,” he said. “The idea that tennis is so mental, that so many coaches are putting across, I think it does such a disservice to the players because what you’re essentially saying is that you can’t correct the flaws that you see. So therefore, the excuse that they’re losing must be mental.

“Are there mental challenges to tennis? Of course, there are. But if you don’t have the skills to execute shots, it doesn’t matter what your strategy is.”

Sabalenka has been on both sides of the debate at different points in her career, parting with her sports psychologist in 2022 out of a desire to “take responsibility” for her tennis.

“Knowing the tennis part from a biomechanic side, it definitely gives you so much confidence because you know how things works,” said Sabalenka, who is in position to become WTA Year-End No. 1 for the first time in her career.

“You tried it on match, you know it's works. Whatever situation you facing, like you don't feel your forehand or backhand, you know exactly the steps you have to make to bring that shot back.”

After a slow start against Putintseva, Sabalenka brought her shots back in style to improve to 17-1 since mid-August and guarantee a return to the top of the PIF Race to the WTA Finals standings. The game’s most dynamic ball-striker is proving to also be its most diligent student; the results continue to be explosive.