Aryna Sabalenka Reportedly Parts Ways With Two Team Members After Challenging 2026 Season

The 2026 season hasn’t gone the way Aryna Sabalenka would have wanted. Though she has won three titles, her performances at Grand Slams have been underwhelming. On top of this, she has also lost the No. 1 spot to Elena Rybakina in the rankings. This has reportedly resulted in Sabalenka taking drastic decisions and making notable changes to her coaching team.

According to prominent tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg, Sabalenka has parted ways with Max Mirnyi. He had joined her team as an advisor in 2025 and isn’t present in California even though the Belarusian is competing in the WTA Finals. But this isn’t all, as former players Dinara Safina and Anna Chakvetadze have claimed that Sabalenka’s physiotherapist has also left her team.

Mirnyi’s absence at Indian Wells was also called out by Lindsay Davenport, who was commentating during Sabalenka’s clash against Karolina Muchova. It is quite surprising that an important member of the team isn’t present at one of the most important tournaments of the season.

“I have not seen Max Mirnyi here,” Davenport said at The Tennis Channel. “I’ve been walking around, been watching Sabalenka practice. And I’m not sure…why? Or maybe he is here, somewhere else?”

However, Sabalenka has yet to say anything on the matter, and it isn’t confirmed whether she has made any changes to her team. But she did confirm that Mirnyi is not at Indian Wells and also opened up about her relationship with him following the 7-6, 7-5 victory over Muchova.

“He’s not here at Indian Wells with us, but Mike’s (Mirnyi) always been a great supporter,” she told Christian’s Court. “He would always message and give his advice, and having someone who was, I feel like, almost invisible or really No. 1 in doubles to help me with that net approach, it’s really important. And yeah, he’d been mostly focusing on my game at the net, and we’re trying to improve that.”

October 14, 2026, Wuhan, Hubei, China: Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus plays against Ann Li of USA not in view during the Wuhan Open final match at the Optics Valley International Tennis Center. Ann li defeated Aryna Sabalenka with a score of 3-6, 6-4, 7-6. Wuhan China – ZUMAs197 20261014_aaa_s197_245 Copyright: xRenxYongx

It won’t be much of a surprise if Sabalenka does make changes to her team. Her last title victory came at the Miami Open in March. Though the 28-year-old has reached the later stages in a number of tournaments since then, she hasn’t been able to win any titles. Moreover, she arrived at the WTA Finals after a highly disappointing Asian swing.

Sabalenka first suffered a major upset against Nikola Bartunkova in the Round of 32 at the China Open. She was then knocked out 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 by Ann Li in her opening match of the Wuhan Open. This poor run of results prompted Sabalenka to start working alongside a psychologist.

Aryna Sabalenka started working with a psychologist again ahead of the WTA Finals

Having previously parted ways with her sports psychologist in 2023, Sabalenka has now returned to the setup. She reached out to her psychologist following a quarterfinal exit against Diana Shnaider at the French Open. The Belarusian wants to reset her mental game, and a psychologist can really help her with this.

“I’m trying to stop overthinking things so much, trust my instincts more and leave some issues behind. It’s been important work,” she said at a pre-tournament press conference. “I’ve started working with a psychologist again, and I feel that at this moment I really needed someone to help me find myself again.”

Sabalenka also revealed that she has worked a lot on both her physical and mental side following the shocking early exit in Wuhan.

“The first thing I tried to do after Wuhan was get my body back. I think we did the right things, and now I feel better physically. After that, I’ve worked a lot, both on the physical side and the mental side,” she added.

The victory over Muchova will provide Sabalenka with some much-needed confidence. She will be taking on Mirra Andreeva next, who crushed Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-0 in her opening match.

The World No. 2 has a 4-2 advantage over Andreeva in the H2H record. But she came up short in their last meeting, which came in the final of the 2025 Indian Wells Masters. The winner of their upcoming encounter at the WTA Finals will qualify for the knockouts, so it is a highly important match for both players.

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