“Come on Sabalenka!” Aryna Sabalenka stops mid-serve to smile as a fan heartily cheers for her victory against Coco Gauff at the Australian Open semifinals
The Belarusian lost her focus as the fan cheered for her.
Aryna Sabalenka smiles as a fan cheers for her at the Australian Open (Images via X)
Belarusian tennis ace Aryna Sabalenka was left with a big smile on her face when she had to stop mid-serve during her semifinal match at the 2024 Australian Open. As Sabalenka was getting ready to serve against Coco Gauff in the opening set, she had to pull back as a fan’s cheer distracted the Belarusian.
However, rather than getting irritated, Sabalenka let out a big smile and then went back to her mark. The Belarusian ace who is defending her crown at the year’s first Grand Slam was distracted when a fan shouted “Come on Sabalenka”. The player, who was dribbling looked up and then pulled back.
Aryna Sabalenka then let out a big smile as she looked towards the stands. The Belarusian then regained her focus as she talked to herself. Sabalenka then continued with the play. The clip of the incident was shared online by fans. Have a look at it below.
Aryna Sabalenka saves herself from another embarrassment against Coco Gauff
Aryna Sabalenka is the defending champion at the 2024 Australian Open and she has played like one so far. The Belarusian came into the semifinals without dropping a set. She won all her matches before the semifinals in straight sets. In fact, Sabalenka only lost 16 games prior to her semifinal clash against Gauff.
However, the second seed felt the jitters when she met the reigning US Open champion in an all-important game. Sabalenka might be thinking of the loss she suffered when the two players met in a Grand Slam match and hence faltered.
Despite gaining a 5-2 lead in the first set, Sabalenka lost four games on the trot and ended up conceding a lead. However, she came back quickly to level the scores and force the set into a tiebreaker. Sabalenka then carried the momentum and clinched the tiebreaker 7-2 to save herself from another embarrassment against Gauff.
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Ritesh Pathak
(2150 Articles Published)