Aryna Sabalenka described her match against
Elena Rybakina as a 'reversal to old habits' and in some ways, it truly was as she served double-digit double faults in the loss.
Sabalenka lost the
Indian Wells final against Rybakina and it 'was a very good performance from Sabalenka. She held her own pretty well in the first set but she also served a double fault on set point. She served a couple of them in the match at very bad times which looked more like the Sabalenka of the past than the grand slam-winning player we saw so far this year.
After the match, Sabalenka lamented her missed chances in the first set:
"I had a lot of opportunities in the first set and I
didn't use it, which is totally fine. I feel like it's a small reminder
that, no, you still have to work on so many things. There will be days
when not everything will go your way, so you still have to work hard and
you still have to fight a lot."
On struggling with her serve, Sabalenka said:
"There will be some days when old habits will come back
and you just have to work through it. Not every match will be going your
way and you will be serving perfectly. So it is just kind of a reminder
that that's okay to still be struggling with something."
And some more:
"That's okay to don't play your best. Keep fighting and
keep using the rest of the weapons. Today I would say that I was super
disappointed with my serve, so I was back to old habits. I was a little
bit overreacting to things and I wasn't there in the first two games in
the second set."