Aryna Sabalenka heads into Wimbledon as the first seed, but the Belarusian’s recent form has been a far cry from what fans have been accustomed to in recent years.
Since winning the Miami Open in March, the world number one has suffered a number of shocking defeats.
Sabalenka fell to Hailey Baptiste in the Madrid Open quarterfinals and lost to Sorana Cirstea in the third round of the Italian Open, before suffering a last-eight exit at Roland Garros to Diana Shnaider; her worst Grand Slam finish in two years.
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During the grass swing, she has played at just one event, the Berlin Open, where she was beaten in the semifinals by Jessica Pegula, who scored a bagel in the third set to seal the win.
Following her French Open defeat, Sabalenka faced the media and said she wanted to ‘quit tennis’, a comment she has now addressed before Wimbledon.
Aryna Sabalenka addresses her comments after Roland Garros
Touching on her post-French Open comments in her Wimbledon press conference, Sabalenka said: “Yeah. Stupid question, stupid answer. Like, how do you feel now? Of course, I felt terrible.”
Asked what it took to feel like not quitting tennis again, the 28-year-old replied jokingly: “Couple bags of chips, some sweets, and I’m good to go.
She then said: “I don’t know. I think a couple of days. I just need to leave the place where everything happened, and then I feel a little bit better.”
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Sabalenka had not lost a set at Roland Garros up until her quarterfinal clash with Shnaider, which she started well in.
The four-time major champion took the first set, but fell apart in the second and particularly the third, which ended 6-0.
Sabalenka’s first opponent comes in the form of Teodora Kostovic, whom she has never faced before on the WTA Tour.
Aryna Sabalenka unbothered by potentially losing world number one status
Should results go her way, world number two Elena Rybakina could take the world number one spot from Sabalenka at Wimbledon.
Asked if she is bothered by the prospect of losing her position atop the rankings, Sabalenka said: “I mean, at this point in my career, I don’t really focus on the ranking.
“I think I learned throughout the years, the moment you start focusing on your ranking, things are going to slip away.
“I’m just focusing on myself. I mean, whatever she is going to do here, it’s her life, it’s her story. I’m focusing on myself, my story. I mean, hopefully by the end of this tournament I can stay on the top of the game.”
If Sabalenka and Rybakina meet in the final, the winner will leave Wimbledon as the world number one.
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