World number one
Aryna Sabalenka had a slip of the tongue in
front of the camera after securing a win against America’s Danielle Collins at
the
Miami Open. The 26-year-old, who is regarded as one of the best players currently
playing in women’s tennis in the singles category along with the likes of Poland’s
Iga Swiatek, secured her place in the last-eight after beating American tennis
player in straight sets in the round of 16 in straight sets with a score of
6-4, 6-4.
It was Sabalenka’s seventh consecutive win over Collins.
After the match, the three-time Grand Slam winner had a slip of the tongue in front of the
camera. She appeared on Tennis Channel after securing the win and at one stage,
used the ‘F’ word. "Oh f***, they're actually over there [in front of us]!,”
she said while responding to a comment from host Prakash Amritraj.
Talking after the match, Sabalenka stated that she was happy
with her performance. "I would say that at the Australian Open I was
serving not very good," she said. " So after the Open, we were
working a lot on my serve to get back the shot, to get back on track with the
serve. I'm super happy with the way I'm serving right now, and I think against
Danielle I served really smart. At some moment I was just going as hard as
possible, and I was making those faces, but mostly I think it was pretty smart
serving from me. Yeah, I'm happy to see my serve back."
Sabalenka will now face China’s Zheng Qinwen in the
quarterfinal of the competition. She secured her spot in the last eight after
beating America’s Ashlyn Krueger in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 7-6. It
will be the sixth meeting between the two players in professional tennis. In
the previous five meetings, Sabalenka had a clear edge, as she won on all five occasions.