“I just have to not over-rush it, just wait for a better shot to hit my strong, powerful balls” – Sabalenka hopes to do things differently against Swiatek next time

The Belarusian is through to the third round in Madrid, where she could meet Swiatek in the final

Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka at the 2022 WTA Finals in Fort Worth Image Credit: Zuma / Panoramic

April 27, 2023

World No 2 and Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka says she would adopt a different strategy if she played world No 1 Iga Swiatek again. The Pole scored a straight sets win over Sabalenka in the final of the WTA Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart.

Swiatek now leads their head-to-head by 5 wins to 2 losses – with five of those matches taking place last year. The two could meet again in the final of the ongoing Madrid Open next week and the Belarusian says she would take a different approach to their rematch.

“Probably I don’t have to get crazy when I have a shorter ball to approach and to start playing my aggressive game, don’t get over-crazy about that shot. Because in the last match I was like, ‘Okay, this is a short ball, I have to do something extra’. So I was overthinking and that’s why I was missing a lot,” she said. “Last match it was about a few service games, my service games, so I just have to not over-rush it, just wait for a better shot to hit my strong, powerful balls.”

I just have to accept it and I just have to learn and improve what didn’t work well today and try better next time.
Aryna Sabalenka

Funny or not? #Świątek #Sabalenka pic.twitter.com/MhGMHY02ms
— Emigrant 🇵🇱❤️🇬🇧 👑🔰 (@gruczykowski) April 23, 2023

Sabalenka, who came into Madrid with a 23-4 record for the season, is enjoying her best season – winning three titles including her long-awaited first Grand Slam, and reaching another final. With her experience, she says she has also gotten beating at dealing with the losses.

“I think I’m getting better with accepting that I have lost this. It’s happened, it’s in the past, I will learn this lesson and move on,” said the 24-year-old. “Before I used to be really depressed after tough matches, but right now I think I’m a little bit older, so I understand that it’s okay, it happens. I just have to accept it and I just have to learn and improve what didn’t work well today and try better next time.”

The Belarusian got her Madrid campaign off to a winning start with a straight sets win over Sorana Cirstea and next faces Camila Osorio in the third round.