Sabalenka quotes Surface Queens

Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Wednesday, May 8, 2024

Women's tennis has surface queens, but court category is not decisive when they meet, says Arina Sabalenko.

Two-time Australian Open champion Sabalenka said she considers herself the first racket of the world Iga Swiatek as the best on clay and sees the winner of Wimbledon 2022 Elena Rybakina as a leading player on grass, but believes the Grand Slam champions can beat each other on their preferred surface.

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“I mean, Iga is obviously a much better clay player than me, for example,” Sabalenka told the media in Rome. “I would say that Elena plays better on grass. Maybe I'm a little better on hard courts.

“At the same time, I can’t say that it’s all about the coverage. I mean, as time has shown, I can beat them on clay, on hard court, on grass. It's not about the coverage, I would say. There were a couple of key moments in every match where she probably played better.”

Pointing to the fact that she scored three championship points in Saturday's final in Madrid before bowing to Swiatek, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(7) in a pulsating three-hour, 11-minute Mutua Madrid Open final, Sabalenko said it often comes down to managing critical moments.

“For example, in the last match with Iga, I wouldn’t say that in those important moments I did anything wrong, I just did the right thing, but she did it a little better,” said Sabalenka, who celebrated her 26th birthday. on Cinco de Mayo. “It's about the little things.

“Yes, it’s not about the surface. It's a process. You learn from the little mistakes you made during the match, then you go and work on them and try better next time. It’s just small improvements, like being a small percentage better every day.” .I hope for the best result.”

The 2023 US Open finalist is challenging the idea of ​​the WTA Big Four – Swiatek, Sabalenka, Rybakina and US Open champion Coco Gauff – arguing that in women's tennis “anyone can beat anyone”.

While she doesn't see a new “big three” emerging, Sabalenka said she aims to remain in the top three.

“Now we have rivals, that is, me, Iga and Elena. Perhaps in recent years we have been playing more consistently,” Sabalenko said. “Maybe last year and this year. I would say that in tennis anyone can beat anyone.

“If you started to think like this: “My level is there, they are out there somewhere – how to put it – you don’t respect them, you underestimate them, and you kind of lose it because you’re not – let’s put it this way – good enough.” focuses for them.

“It’s all about staying focused, doing your thing and not thinking about all these ranking situations, the level above them. I'm focusing on myself and making sure that every time I'm on the court I play my best tennis and hopefully I'll still be in the top three players, yeah.”

Photo credit: Julian Finney/Getty