"I would be struggling for years": Sabalenka relieved to win first Grand Slam at 24 after previous struggles for Raducanu, Andreescu and Kenin

Aryna Sabalenka admitted that she understand how young players might feel after winning a grand slam early explaining that she would struggle for years.

The Belarussian won her maiden grand slam earlier this year at age 24 but she had plenty of time to prepare for the magnitude of that moment. Some others don't have that luxury and there is a long list of players who won early but then struggled later on in life. Players like Raducanu (18), Andreescu (19) and Kenin (21) all experienced problems after becoming grand slam champions though it's been mostly injury-related.

Sabalenka explained:

“I’m really glad that I won my first Grand Slam at this age. Because I felt like if I would be 18 years old to win the Grand Slam, then I would be struggling for years. I kind of understand that, yeah, that’s happened and that was my dream. It was an amazing moment, but time to move on. It’s another tournament, it wasn’t the only one goal. So that’s why, for me, it was not easy, but I have this understanding that no matter what, I have to keep going, keep fighting, and keep showing my best tennis if I want to keep winning. So for me it wasn’t that tough.”

Speaking about becoming a very young grand slam winner, Sabalenka noted:

“That’s really tough, but I think they have to go through it to - they just have to go through it. Nothing is going to be easy. Yeah, they won their first Grand Slam, which is amazing. They showed their best there. I think they have to go through, not a lot of, but they have to go through some tough period to understand no matter what they have to keep fighting. Nobody is going to give it easily to them, so they have to work for it. I think that’s just a process. Anyway, they will figure out later.”