Sabalenka reflects on finishing 2020 on two-title streak

Aryna Sabalenka ended her 2020 season on a flawless nine-match win streak with titles in Ostrava and Linz. With just two WTA events after Roland Garros, the Belarusian monopolized most of the trophies up for grabs by also winning the Ostrava doubles title with Elise Mertens.

The only trophy she didn't take home was the doubles one in Linz, which went to Aranxta Rus and Tamara Zidansek (Sabalenka wasn't entered into doubles there).

In Sunday's Linz singles final, she took out Mertens, 7-5, 6-2 to win her eighth career title and clinch the year-end No. 10 ranking for the first time after two years at No. 11.

"It means a lot, first of all it means that I improved because the last two years I've been pretty consistent with my ranking and I want to improve this number," Sabalenka said going into the WTA International. "But I'm not here for the ranking, I'm here for the matches, to feel the emotions and to feel the game, this is more important for me than the ranking."

Despite the lengthy tour shutdown, Sabalenka had quite a year winning the title in Doha before rediscovering her winning ways in Ostrava. It wasn't an easy road in the Czech Republic: She nearly lost her opener to Coco Gauff after going down 5-2 in the third set, and then lost the first 10 games of her quarterfinal to Sara Sorribes Tormo before turning the match around, 0-6, 6-4, 6-0.

"I would say that match [against Sorribes Tormo] changed everything," Sabalenka said. "It gave me a lot of power. After that match I felt more relaxed and I knew that I could come back [no] matter what and that gave me more power and more freedom on the court."

With the WTA season officially over, Sabalenka heads home to Belarus while Mertens is jetting back to Belgium. Mertens' run secured her a year-end Top-20 ranking for the third year in a row, and there were no hard feelings between the two, who have won four titles together in two years including the 2019 US Open.

"Okay we can still be friends," Mertens wrote on Instagram. "Congrats on the good week partner."

Sabalenka was understandably giddy in press, saying she might celebrate with cake and then McDonalds or pizza for dinner.

"This is the perfect end to the season and I can be happy and relaxed on my holidays for the next months and preseason," Sabalenka said.

The 22-year-old will go into 2021 brimming with confidence as she hopes to maintain her momentum with a lot more wins. She credits a renewed mindset for her success.

"I changed my mind a little bit," she said. "I think I stopped really overthinking about tennis. I start to think this is my job and I have to go there and give everything I can and just do everything we've been working on. [Those] kind of thoughts helped me to be more professional and more consistent on the court.

"This is what I'm going to bring [to] the next season."