New world No 1 Sabalenka on Swiatek’s defeat to Ostapenko: “I didn’t want her to lose”

One might expect incoming world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka to have had her fingers crossed for long-time leader Iga Swiatek to lose matches and drop rankings points.

But after making the US Open quarter-finals by beating Daria Kasatkina in straight sets, the Belarusian revealed that she would have preferred to reach the top of the rankings in any other way.

“I was about to go to sleep in the second set,” she said, reflecting on Swiatek’s match against Jelena Ostapenko, “but it was really interesting to watch. Okay, I’m going to watch, like, first couple of games just to see the situation. I watched them. I was just like, No, I’m not going to watch it till the end. I went to bed.

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“But I was really curious, like, what’s going on there. But I push myself so hard to don’t watch the score, just go to bed. I know if I would see the result yesterday, would be really tough to sleep. I was just like, No, I have match tomorrow, I have to focus on that, doesn’t matter.

“But, I mean, to be honest, I didn’t want her to lose. I was watching that match and I was just like, C’mon, win it. I was really not like sure, but after some of the upsets, I thought she’s probably going to make it to the final. I was just thinking I’m going to do everything I can possible and impossible to reach the final and decide everything on court.

“So I was like, I was sad, but at the same time I have to be happy because it’s not like she just fell. All year I’ve been playing well. I put her kind of like under pressure. I was just like sad and happy at the same time.

“I didn’t want to become world No 1 like this. I want a battle for this.”

Sabalenka: Being world No 1 doesn’t change anything

Sabalenka next faces Qinwen Zheng for a place in the semi-finals – a player she has never taken on before – and she is adamant she will be focused on the task in hand.

“About the world No 1, it’s not change[d] anything. Yes, I was No 2, now I’m No 1. It’s great. Of course, it’s like a great achievement. It’s one of the goals. It’s great to say that, yeah, I’ve been world No 1. But it’s not changing anything.

“You still have to bring your best tennis. Even sometimes players have nothing to lose against you, they’re playing their best tennis, so sometimes it’s even tougher.

“I’m not focusing on that. It’s ranking in sport. Anybody can beat anybody. I’m trying to focus on myself and improve myself more, doing everything to bring my best tennis on each match.”

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