The Belarusian also said that it doesn't matter if someone doesn't like her, at the press conference after her 3rd round win at the Roland Garros
Aryna Sabalenka won her third match of the season against her WTA Tour best friend Paula Badosa, this time qualyfing for the 4th round of the Roland Garros. The Spaniard, on the Philippe-Chatrier, gave the impression of being able to fight with the WTA No.2 in the first set. She was ahead 4-2 and also 5-3; the Spaniard found a way to surprise the Belarusian in response on several occasions but not to defend her serves at the same time. Aryna was able to respond shot on shot and, once parity was re-established on 5-5, she began to express a decidedly higher level of tennis. Badosa lost 7-5 and was unable to gain more than one game in the second set (6-1).
Analyzing the challenge in the post-match, Sabalenka talked about many themes, including the love of the crowd and fans, saying that it is impossible to make yourself loved by the whole world and that’s okay.
“I’m totally fine if someone doesn’t like me. That’s fine. I know I have more people who support me than those who hate me. I’m trying to shift my focus to positive thinking. I think it all comes from experience. Usually I would say that the negative people are the loudest and I just try to ignore them. I understand that it is impossible to make the whole world love you. It’s absolutely fine,” she said.
Sabalenka also said she watch the video of Iga Swiatek crying after Naomi Osaka’s match and said she understood her, saying she would do the same. to
“There’s a lot of pressure in tennis, but only if you focus on that pressure. I think, like me personally, I’m just trying to focus on myself, to improve as a player and to give my best tennis every time I play. I just saw a little clip where Iga was crying and I totally understood it. It was a very tough match. She was really close to losing that match. I guess she was just throwing away all those things but all the tension I would do the same,” said Sabalenka.
Aryna Sabalenka doing her post match dance ritual down the stairs
“I’m a really bad dancer. I don’t know what to do” 😂
Doing the batusi in Paris. 💃
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) June 1, 2024
