Aryna Sabalenka has now responded to Jessica Pegula’s comments about her.
Sabalenka beat Hailey Baptiste 6-4, 6-4 to continue her bid for the Sunshine Double at the Miami Open.
It was a less successful day for Pegula, who lost in both singles and doubles in Miami.
After losing her singles match to Elena Rybakina, Pegula made comments about both Sabalenka, to which the world number one has now responded.
Aryna Sabalenka responds to Jessica Pegula’s comments about her
Pegula has lost nine of her last 10 matches against Sabalenka and Rybakina, and after the match she explained what they both do so well.
“I mean, I feel like they’re just so confident right now in, like, big pressure points,” Pegula said in her press conference. “I mean, the amount of times they go for big second serves, or they go for big returns, or they hit a big one-two punch, like, serve, first ball, like rip a winner on a break point.
“Like, it takes a lot of confidence to do that, and I feel like those points, they’re just playing really confident, at least when I played Aryna a lot, you know, over the last couple years, and now Elena quite a lot in the last couple months, I just always feel like that’s what they do really well.”
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These comments were addressed to Sabalenka in her own press conference, who appeared to agree with Pegula.
Sabalenka explained that she has really focused on trying to stay composed in big moments, which she thinks has been a big improvement of hers.
“I think for me why I am like that is because over the years I have really improved in focusing on the right things and under pressure still being able to focus on the game plan and not take it too far and be too emotional,” said Sabalenka.
“I think that is why she can feel that way and that is why I am able to pull out really great tennis on the key moments, just because I don’t think about those moments as the key moments. I am just basically taking it one step at a time.”
Aryna Sabalenka explains how she feels about playing Elena Rybakina in the semifinals instead of the final
After beating Baptiste, Sabalenka will play world number two Rybakina in the semifinals.
Although they are the top two ranked players in the world, Rybakina was still the world number three at the time of the seeding cut-off, which is the reason why she is playing Sabalenka in the semifinals.
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Sabalenka beat Rybakina in the Indian Wells final, where she got revenge from her loss in the Australian Open final, and she was asked how she felt about playing her biggest rival right now in a semifinal this time.
“I don’t feel any different playing her in the quarterfinals or the semis or the final,” responded Sabalenka. “I think for me it’s just the opportunity to become a better player because you know the matches against her are tough matches and you have to bring your tennis and fight for every point.
“I am super excited whenever and it doesn’t matter what stage it is at the tournament. I would prefer to play if we both reached the final, because I feel like this is the match where all the tension is and people have really been enjoying watching us play. I feel even more excited playing her in the final because it’s the last push.
“It’s like you can give it your all there and this is just the last push, so I enjoy playing more in the finals. But if you ask if I care. I don’t care if it’s the semi or the final.”
Sabalenka leads the head-to-head against Rybakina 9-7, and will look to extend her advantage when they play on Friday, March 27.
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