Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka spoke about the benefit of having experience as she cruised through to the Australian Open semi-finals.
Sabalenka is through to the semi-finals of the Australian Open after a 6-2 6-3 win over former Roland Garros champion Barbora Krejcikova.
Despite being broken twice, Sabalenka remained mentally strong as she reached the final four in Melbourne.
Speaking after the match Sabalenka admitted she’s ‘super happy’ to be in the semi-finals and admitted there were discussions to move the match to Margaret Court Arena as the match started 90 minutes later than originally scheduled, “Yeah, I’m super happy to get through this match. Barbora is a tough opponent and we always had really tough battles against each other,” Sabalenka admitted in her press conference.
“I’m happy with the level I played and of course I’m happy to get this win. I mean, there was the possibility that one of our matches will be moved, but we just decided to see how the Novak and Fritz match will go, if it’s gonna be too long, then we kind of, like, agreed for the possibility to be moved. But Novak won third and fourth sets, so we just, yeah, just went on court as normal.”
The victory means Sabalenka is into her eighth Grand Slam semi-final and her fifth consecutive one.
However there was a time Sabalenka struggled to reach Grand Slam semi-finals as Sabalenka failed to reach the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam in her first 14 Grand Slam events.
So what has been the key to Sabalenka’s recent success? According to the defending champion past experiences have lead to her becoming more mature, “I think my mindset that I’m not getting crazy on court, I’m not rushing things,” Sabalenka responded when asked about her past Grand Slam results.
“You know, I’m just playing point by point, and that’s it, and fighting for every point without overthinking about my dreams, about what I want to do, about how many slams I want to win and all that stuff.
“I was able to separate myself from that kind of mentality and just start focusing on myself and focusing on things I can improve and I can get better in, and what I actually have to do to win every match I play.
“I guess it’s all about experience. I think I’m more mature, older, whatever you want to call it. But I think it all comes with experience, you know, like, with tough losses, with tough matches. Yeah, with experience.”
Sabalenka’s experience could prove pivotal in what is an unexperienced rest of the field.
Next for the defending champion is fourth seed US Open champion Coco Gauff, who is on a 12 match winning streak at Grand Slams.
To some people, Thursday’s match could be the virtual final and Sabalenka commented on Gauff’s red-hot form, “Yeah, she’s moving really well. Everything you do on court it’s coming back,” Sabalenka said about the American.
“You need to build the point probably couple times in one point, like, to have that, not like easy shot, but, like — yeah, easy shot, you know, to finish the point. So that’s why she’s really tough opponent. Yeah, but anyway, yeah, she’s a great player, and I’m really excited to play her.
“After US Open, I really wanted that revenge, and, I mean, that’s a great match. It’s always great battles against Coco, with really great fights. I’m happy to play her, and I’m super excited to play that semi-final match.”
Gauff currently leads the head-to-head 4-2 with the American winning the last meeting at the US Open.
