Aryna Sabalenka trying to hit the National Bank Open Mascot 😂 I would not want to be him. This person is seriously brave.
(VIDEO) "This person is seriously brave": Sabalenka takes on Canadian Open mascot in hilarious promotional bit
WTAThursday, 10 August 2023 at 12:20
Aryna Sabalenka had the advantage in a face-off against a tournament mascot at the National Bank Canadian Open (Omnium Banque Nationale) in Montreal.
World No. 2 Sabalenka has had a good start at the WTA 1000 event, defeating Petra Martic in her opening round. The Belarusian won the match in straight sets 6-3, 7-6 (5).
Sabalenka will go on to face fifteenth seed Liudmila Samsonova in her next match. Both women are known for being powerful strikers, so Sabalenka got some practice in against the tournament's mascot.
Sabalenka fires shots at mascot
In a video posted by the Omnium Banque Nationale Twitter page, the 25-year-old can be seen hitting shot after shot at the bright yellow mascot, as the person inside the costume jokingly tries to dodge the balls flying toward them.
The crowd was enthused by the game, cheering whenever the Australian Open champion managed to hit the ball on target.
It was clear that the mascot was playing along, as they also lifted their arms in congratulations whenever Sabalenka achieved this.
Read also
Fans react to amusing scenes on social media
The Tennis Letter shared a clip of the video, captioning it:
"Aryna Sabalenka trying to hit the National Bank Open Mascot
I would not want to be him.
This person is seriously brave," thus alluding to the player's powerful shots.
Some fans were confused as to why this game was taking place, with one writing:
"Why was this happening? What, would someone win something if the poor mascot got hit?"
However, it was soon cleared up that it was simply a promotional bit that Sabalenka had been asked to do by tournament organisers.
Just In
Popular News
Latest Comments
- I go for Sinner
AceOfBase14-11-2024 - Kudos to the journalist here for putting Krejcikova's statement first, making it more important than all the shiiite uttered by Wertheim.MrAndreeva11-11-2024
- Daring prediction from Mats :-)AceOfBase10-11-2024
- Zheng v Gauff the best final we could get. Both were and remain in top form the last few weeks. Queenwen even the whole year almost. If she finds her aces she's a contender. If not, Gauff's gonna take it.MrAndreeva08-11-2024
- Let's go easy on Dasha. But Barbora did well reaching the semifinals.MrAndreeva08-11-2024
