Comments by Sabalenka ignore the American’s ability to perform at her peak under the most difficult circumstances
A
ryna Sabalenka was understandably devastated by how her first French Open final unfolded. Having established herself as the No 1 player in the world and made such significant improvements to her game and mentality, she played some of the best tennis of her career in Paris en route to the final. Sabalenka felt she was ready to tackle all obstacles. With her crushing defeat against Coco Gauff in the French Open final after three difficult sets, she found out she was not.
Her expression of that disappointment, however, was one of her least impressive performances of the year. During the trophy ceremony, with Gauff sitting metres away, Sabalenka’s insistence on repeatedly lamenting her “terrible match” was awkward enough. But in her press conference, after having a short amount of time to cool off, Sabalenka tripled down.
Gauff had won not because of her incredible level, she said, but because of her own mistakes off easy balls. How had her opponent made life difficult for her? By her framed shots magically landing in the court. Had Iga Swiatek reached the final, she concluded, the Pole would have won.
