Tennis star Aryna Sabalenka “would get distracted by the colors and the difference” of tennis courts if she plays with Iga Swiatek on clay and Rybakina on grass. The Belarusian beauty believes she would get thumped by both in a situation such as the battle of surfaces of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. After defeating Dayana Yastremska 6-4, 6-2 in the Italian Open, she has recently opened up with Tennis Channel’s Prakash Amritraj about how she thought she would perform in such a situation.

Sabalenka turned self-deprecating as she said, “I would definitely lose six love, six love. I would get distracted by the colors and the difference. And I was thinking too much and I would be the one like living, living, living the corpus bagels.” With Rybakina and Swiatek having a better record on grass and clay than the Belarusian, it will be a challenge for her to match up to them.

A few days back, Sabalenka was questioned whether she thought the playing surface made a difference between the trio during her pre-tournament press conference in Rome. Well, she gracefully said, “Well, I mean, obviously Iga is much better on clay than me, for example. I would say Elena is better on grass. I’m maybe a little bit better on hard court. At the same time, I cannot say that it’s all about the surface. I mean, as the time shows, I can beat them on clay, on hard, on grass. It’s not about the surface, I would say. It’s about, honestly in each match, couple of key moments where, like, probably she played better.”

However, Swiatek’s love for bagels and breadsticks can further dampen the party for the Belarusian beauty, who is struggling to win after the Madrid Open. Well, Sabalenka’s slump came about as her ex-boyfriend passed away due to suicide. While she was looking to get out of the slump, her troubles led to another self-deprecating comment, where she believed she lowered the level of the WTA big three. 

Aryna Sabalenka in the last few months has been a ‘big two’ instead of a ‘big three’

Aryna Sabalenka had the perfect start to 2024, with a final in Brisbane International, followed by defending her Australian Open title. She faltered quite a bit following the victory, which led to a self-deprecating comment prior to her Madrid Open run. “I feel that I have lowered the level a little within that hypothetical ‘Big Three’, this last month seems more like a Big Two (laughs).”

Despite feeling out of place with the other two, Sabalenka was still happy that she was in the group. “However, I am happy to be part of this group. I hope to maintain my level and that they keep playing this way.”

The Tiger fell down to rank 3 during the Madrid Open, but Coco Gauff’s early exit and her run to the final helped her reattain her spot at rank 2. Now, she aims to get even better to give her Polish rival a good fight in the Italian Open. Will she be able to succeed?