"As World No.1, you're kind of trying to run away from someone": Sabalenka goes from being the hunter to hunted as World No.1
WTA
Aryna Sabalenka may have suffered a heart-breaking loss to Coco Gauff at the US Open. One of a few for the Belarusian in Grand Slams since becoming Australian Open champion, but the run also gleamed her the World No.1 spot.
Sabalenka talked about winning the Australian Open and how she wanted to put Swiatek under pressure and kept looking to improve herself as a result.
"After winning the Australian Open, I was thinking probably I have a chance to put Iga (Swiatek) under pressure, show her that it's not going to be easy for her to stay on top of the game. I was just practicing a lot, kept working hard, kept improving myself, and I was hoping that one day I'd become World No.1," said Aryna Sabalenka.
But now she has adapted to new pressure of being the World No.1, but has more than enough mental resolve despite sometimes not showing it on court smashing her racket post US Open final and being in tears.
"As World No.2, you're chasing. As World No.1, you're kind of like trying to run away from someone who is chasing you. It's a different kind of tiger," Sabalenka added.
"It's been really difficult to improve this part of my game. I'm a really emotional person on court, but off court, it's really tough to make me upset. I worked really hard. I work with psychologists to get to know myself better. Now I've become the one who is trying to run away as far as I can so nobody really can get me. But let's say, I'm chasing my goals. That's it," she concluded.
Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
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