The WTA world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka recently discussed her loss at the US Open. The final matchup between Sabalenka and Coco Gauff, a popular American teenager, made the loss much more painful. Many events during and following the match were clarified by her comments. She even mentioned how sad she felt after the defeat.
After the final, Sabalenka was observed crying in the audience, expressing how emotionally draining it was for her. However, Coco Gauff was happy because it was a significant turning point in her professional life as well.
She expressed her thoughts about the defeat at the US Open and said: “My biggest takeaway was that I need to learn how to finish the points on the net. We worked a lot on my volley game. I got over-emotional there. I wasn’t controlling myself. I was thinking all over the place in that second set. That was the biggest takeaway. Again, I took a couple of days off just to switch off & forgot about tennis bc it was a really tough, tough loss for me. It was super emotional.”
Aryna Sabalenka, who put a lot of effort into her volley game, openly admits that one of the essential skills she was lacking was the ability to complete points at the net. She even acknowledged that during the finals, her emotions were high because of this. This defeat had Sabalenka depressed to the point where she had to keep quiet about it for a while.
Sabalenka in Beijing, ranking, and results in 2023
Currently the world no.1, Aryna has managed to achieve a 51-11 match record in 2023. Aryna is now having a run in Beijing where she bested the world no.31 Sofia Kenin 6-1 6-2
.Aryna Sabalenka will come up against the world no.56 Katie Boulter in the 2nd round. The head to head is 2-0 for Sabalenka.
The Belarussian clinched 3 titles in 2023 in Adelaide, Australian Open and Madrid. Sabalenka was the runner-up in Indian Wells (BNP Paribas Open), in Stuttgart (Porsche Tennis Grand Prix) and at the U.S. Open.
Aryna won 13 titles in her career: 9 on hard courts, 2 on clay courts and 2 on indoor courts. (See the list of her titles)
Coco Gauff in 2023
Now the world no.3 (career-high), the American played her last match on the 9th of September when she overcame world no.1 Aryna Sabalenka 2-6 6-3 6-2 in the final of the U.S. Open to win her 6th career title.
During this season Gauff achieved an overall 45-13 match record. Gauff has won 4 titles in 2023 in Auckland, Washington, Cincinnati and U.S. Open.
Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff fought against each other 6 times. Their actual head to head record is 4-2 for Gauff. The last time they competed against each other, Coco Gauff won 2-6 6-3 6-2 in the final in New York (U.S. Open) on the 9th of September 2023.
You can see them in action in the following highlights.
Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff |
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