Loss to Gauff gave me focus, says Sabalenka

World number two Aryna Sabalenka has stated that her defeat to America’s Coco Gauff last year helped her become more focus on the job. The 26-year-old is regarded as one of the best players currently playing in the women’s singles category in the Open era, along with the likes of Poland’s Iga Swiatek.

Sabalenka has a fabulous 2024 season. The Minsk-born star ended up winning two Grand Slams, which included the US Open 2024, where she defeated America’s Jessica Pegula in the final in straight sets with a score of 7-5, 7-5. Earlier in the year, she lifted the Australian Open for the second time. She defeated China’s Qinwen Zheng in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-2.

That win, however, came after suffering a heartbreaking defeat in the final of the US Open last year to Gauff with a score of 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. The world number two has been recently quoted in a report where she spoke about how her defeat to Gauff last year helped her have more focus on her game.

"I'm not really focusing on the crowd when they're against me anymore," said Sabalenka. "I'm just focusing on myself and my team. I'm trying to stay focused and keep thinking what I have to do on court. Like, just thinking about tactics and technical issues. I don't really hear them. I think that match against Coco last year gave me a lot. I'm actually really glad I lost that match because I think it was better for me. I learned a lot. Right now, if the crowd is against me, I'm okay with that. I don't really hear them. I'm focusing on different things."

Sabalenka recently participated in the Wuhan Open where she lifted the title after beating China’s Zheng in the final with a score of 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.