WTA Stuttgart: French Open Horrors Haunt Aryna Sabalenka in an Honest Reality Check About Her Clay-Court Expectations

Aryna Sabalenka has set a new set of expectations for herself for this year’s French Open although the last year’s French Open wound is “still probably hurting.” After facing defeat in the semi-finals of the last Roland Garros, even today the 25-year-old gets a chill down her spine recalling that exhausting match. But now, the two-time Grand Slam champion looks at her defeat as a great learning experience as she says, “We’re not losing, we are learning.” 

On the court, Sabalenka is highly renowned for her ability to bounce back from setbacks. However, missing out on the opportunity to be so close to the French Open 2023 final seems to be fueling her determination for this year’s French Open to a great extent.

Last year’s French Open horror is still by Aryna Sabalenka 

While this year’s clay court tournament is around the corner, in a pre-tournament press conference, Sabalenka talked about the importance of having a strong clay season and dealing with last year’s defeats. She stated, “Yeah, I mean, I got really close last year of making the finals of French Open, like really close. Still probably hurting. But it’s okay. I always say, We’re not losing, we are learning. I think that experience was really important for me to learn a lot of stuff. Hopefully this year I can do little bit better.” 

When asked how she could use the experience, the Belarusian responded that she was determined not to suffer the same fate as she did against Muchova in the French Open this year. “Well, I think if I make it to the same stage of the tournament and I’m gonna stay there on 5-2, 30-0, I’m gonna stay there thinking: no f***ing chance I’m gonna lose this time,” Sabalenka said.

On the other side, she also discussed the significance of every player understanding that they are capable of doing well on every court, regardless of surface. “It’s important for every player to know they’re able to play on each surface and don’t have this weird feeling going into the specific surface thinking like ‘Oh, my God, that’s not my place, I’m not going to do well here.’ It was really important for me to have this success, to have this belief.”

Subsequently, in the 2024 tennis season, this Belarusian tennis player literally came up with a different version of herself that won the Australian Open for the second time in a row and is giving tough competition in every other tournament.

However, the biggest question is what happened last year, because of which the 25-year-old WTA star missed her chance to make it to the French Open final.

Facing Muchova at French Open 2023 was a “tough match” for Sabalenka 

Last year, even though Sabalenka admitted to being “exhausted” after spending almost two weeks in Paris, she refused to see the tournament in a negative light. She stressed that even though she was tired, she wouldn’t look back on the competition because she had gone further than she had ever gone.

In a post-match press conference last year, the two-time Grand Slam champion stated, “I think I’m really exhausted right now. But I think it’s only because I lost this match, and it’s very, like, very tough, tough match for me to lose.” However, at the same time, she also highlighted that it’s normal to feel exhausted after playing for two consecutive weeks, considering they are all physical competitions.

Nevertheless, what are your thoughts on Sabalenka’s last year’s French Open defeat? Let us know in the comment section below.