Aryna Sabalenka eyeing the French Open to add to her Majors tally after success in Melbourne

Aryna Sabalenka aims to build on her recent Australian Open triumph by conquering the French Open, a tournament where she has struggled alot.

Aryna Sabalenka eyeing the French Open to add to her Majors tally after success in Melbourne

Aryna Sabalenka (credits- tennisnet.com)

Sabalenka made her major breakthrough at the Australian Open this year, winning her first Grand Slam title. Despite reaching the semifinals in three previous Grand Slam events, she had been unable to make it past that stage until now. The Belarusian player hopes that her success in Melbourne will give her the confidence and momentum needed to achieve a similar result at the upcoming French Open.

Sabalenka’s recent form on clay courts gives her hope for success at Roland Garros. She won the Madrid Open in 2021 and made the final in Stuttgart and the semifinals of the Italian Open last year, losing to world No. 1 Iga Swiatek on both occasions. She was also the runner-up in Stuttgart in 2021. While she has struggled in the past at the French Open, losing in the third round for the last three years in a row, Sabalenka believes that her improved game and mentality will help her perform better this year.

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“I really want to be in the second week of the French Open,” Sabalenka said ahead of playing her opening match at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. “I would say I was just struggling with the Grand Slams before, and it was more about me really wanting to win a Grand Slam and me getting really crazy on matches than something about the clay. Because [the] clay is good there, and it’s one of the best clay courts there.”

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In Stuttgart, Sabalenka will have a challenging first match against the world No.12 Barbora Krejcikova, who easily defeated Liudmila Samsonova in her previous match. This will be the fourth time that Sabalenka and Krejcikova will face each other this year, with Sabalenka winning their last two encounters after losing to Krejcikova in Dubai.

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Sabalenka’s focus on self improvement could help her challenge for the World’s No. 1 spot

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Aryna Sabalenka
(credits- Tennis365)

Sabalenka has stated that her focus is on self-improvement rather than chasing the world’s No. 1 ranking. While she is currently 2,084 points behind Iga Swiatek, another strong showing in Stuttgart could help her close the gap.

“Of course, I want to be No. 1,” Sabalenka said. “But I prefer not focusing on the points and all this stuff. I prefer to focus on myself, on my game, and make sure that I improve myself every day. I just believe that if I’m gonna focus on myself and try to make myself better, the result will come. But of course, I want to be No. 1, as every one of us does.“

Sabalenka‘s mentality and approach to the game have matured over the past year, and her success on the court reflects that. She is currently 20-3 for the season and has shown that she can compete at the highest level. If she can continue to build on her recent success, there’s no reason why she can’t challenge for the world No. 1 spot and make a deep run at the French Open.

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