Aryna Sabalenka says she can exit the French Open with her head held high after narrowingly missing out on a place in the final.
The world No.2 boasted a 5-2 lead over Czech underdog Karolina Muchova in the final set and had a match point opportunity. However, Sabalenka was unable to close the match out as her rival battled back to claim a shock 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 7-5, victory. It is only the third time this season she has been beaten by a player outside of the world’s top 40 on the Tour after Sorana Cirstea in Miami and Sofia Kenin in Rome.
“It was a tough match. She (Muchova) played unbelievable tennis. Still, I had a lot of opportunities, and I didn’t use them.” Sabalenka told reporters in Paris.
“Of course, I’m very disappointed with this tough loss, but that’s okay.”
Whilst the result is a bitter pill for the 25-year-old to swallow, she can take some comfort in her run at Roland Garros. Until this year she had never progressed beyond the third round of the Grand Slam. Before facing Muchova, she scored wins over former world No.3 Elina Svitolina and 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens.
“I definitely have to learn something from this match and come back stronger,” she said.
“I don’t look at this tournament as a negative tournament. I think I have made a great improvement on the clay court, and it’s my best result here (at the French Open).’
“I’m trying to stay positive no matter what happened on the court. I’ll come back stronger.”
Sabalenka currently leads the WTA Tour for most wins this season at 34. In January she won her first major title at the Australian Open where she defeated Elena Rybakina in the final. Overall, she has already contested the final of five WTA events so far in 2023, winning three of them.
However, at the French Open, the Belarussian also had to contend with the limelight off the court. Following her second round match, she was involved in a heated discussion with one journalist who quizzed her about her support for Belarus’ president Alexander Lukashenko. Subsequently, she conducted her next two press conferences behind closed doors due to mental health reasons before returning to her usual media duties.
“I felt bad emotionally after one press conference. I couldn’t sleep,” Sabalenka explained.
“But the only thing I can do well in this life is play tennis, so I try to focus on things I could control and I could do.’
“There wasn’t any moment when I was, like, I don’t want to play tennis. It’s been a great couple of weeks with some challenges, emotional challenges, but I think I got through it. I think I’ll be stronger.”
Sabalenka’s focus now switches to the grass season with Wimbledon starting in less than a month. She reached the semi-final at SW19 back in 2021 but was unable to play last year as the tournament banned Belarussian players due to the war in Ukraine.
