Aryna Sabalenka has continued her disappointing run of form with a shock early exit at the Wuhan Open.

Sabalenka lost her second match at the China Open earlier this month, and has just followed that up by losing her opening match at the Wuhan Open. After two hours and 27 minutes, the Belarusian was beaten 6-3, 4-6, 6-7(5-7) by American Ann Li.

With WTA number one Elena Rybakina having withdrawn from the tournament, Sabalenka was the top seed, but has failed to make the most of that opportunity. She has now come under analysis from former British number one Greg Rusedski, who has attempted to put a plan in place for the 28-year-old in the near future.

Aryna Sabalenka told what to do right after WTA Finals

Speaking on the Off Court With Greg Rusedski podcast, he said: “Well sometimes you need to reset and a little bit of time away from the game. She’s obviously trying to push for the end-of-season champs. Sometimes when you’re feeling that way it’s better to pull out of an event, but you get these guarantees in prize money and it’s getting the balance.

“And you’ve got to find the love and the joy, and you’ve got to find a way to push through. She’s been struggling the last little while, because the results haven’t been what she’d like at the majors and losing the US Open final to Rybakina was painful for her, losing her spot as number one in the world. So as I said, you’re going to have a little bit of a dip at the end of the season.

“The question is, how does she play at the end of the season championships? Because she wants to get her revenge, because that is when Rybakina really started to get everything flowing last year, she finished at the end of the year really strongly, she’s gone on to win two majors and become the number one player, and if you’re Sabalenka you don’t like that. You don’t want to be number two, you want to be number one again. So I think for her it will be interesting to see the top eight in the world and how she performs there.

“Then get away, get a break, don’t even start until possibly the Australian Open like Novak Djokovic does or a lot of the other big names. Take an extended period away from the game so when they’re ready to go, preparation is perfect and they’re ready to hit the road for the rest of the season. So sometimes put a little more breaks if you can and getting away from the game is not a negative thing, but a very positive thing to do.”

Sabalenka will indeed play at the WTA Finals later this season, having already secured her place at the event in Indian Wells. But it remains to be seen how she will perform given her recent struggles.

However, she isn’t exactly the only concern heading into the tournament. Rybakina missed Wuhan with injury, as did Linda Noskova. Coco Gauff withdrew from the Wuhan Open as well, while her fellow American Jessica Pegula suffered a shock exit in her opening match.

Rybakina lifted the WTA Finals trophy in Riyadh last time out, defeating Sabalenka in the final. The Belarusian, who has never won the tournament, also lost the 2022 final to Caroline Garcia.