Arina Sabalenka continues to intrigue the tennis world, sportal.bgreported. Despite having a startling 20-1 record at the start of the season with two titles in her pocket and a place in the quarterfinals in Miami, the wounds from Melbourne still burn.
After defeating Qinwen Zheng in the round of 16 of the WTA 1000 in Miami, the world No. 1 analyzed her painful losses, mental blocks and explained to journalists why her recent loss to Elena Rybakina had affected her more than last year's loss to Madison Keys in the Australian Open final.
The question the Belarusian received after reaching the quarterfinals in Florida was direct: which Australian Open final hurt her more - the 2025 one or the last one? Arina did not shy away from the answer.
"All these lost finals weigh on me because I don't want them to repeat themselves. In the last one in Melbourne, I felt like I had done my job. I was leading 3-0, I was playing brutal tennis, everything was in my hands. I saw that Rybakina had no self-confidence at that moment. I felt like I was giving her the title, and then she recovered. It was terribly painful," said Aryna Sabalenka.
The best tennis player in the world then added:
"I would say that this year was more painful than 2025. Then Keys just took me off the court, played amazingly and I couldn't do anything. But this year - the victory was mine, and I missed it. However, as soon as I left the tournament, I turned a new page. I talked to my team, we made mental changes, and now I look at the finals from a different perspective."
Sabalenka also talked about the dark side of fame – online comments. Her recipe is simple:
"I try not to read what is written, because for some reason I always see more negative things than positive things. As soon as a photo of me or news about me comes out, I just scroll forward. People are often rude and rude to us, so it's really not worth wasting time on it."
As one of the few who can win the titles in Indian Wells and Miami in one year (the famous "sunny double"), the Belarusian emphasized that this is a hell of a challenge.
The Grand Slam lasts two weeks, but winning these two tournaments in a row means almost four weeks of tennis in completely different conditions. "It's extremely complicated. I love such challenges, but I'm taking it step by step. I don't know which is harder, these are incomparable things," she said.
In the semifinals in Miami, Sabalenka will play against American Haley Ann Baptiste.