Kim Clijsters issued a response to Aryna Sabalenka being compared to Serena Williams.
After a difficult period on the sidelines following the French Open due to injury, Sabalenka returned to action in the United States and claimed back-to-back titles in Cincinnati and the US Open.
After Sabalenka won at Flushing Meadows for the first time, the Belarusian became the first player with the most Grand Slam wins in successive years since Williams in 2015 and 2016.
She has also won both hard court Grand Slams in the same season, something Serena Williams did not manage to accomplish during her illustrious career.
Kim Clijsters responds to Aryna Sabalenka and Serena Williams comparisons
Aryna Sabalenka is keen to dominate the hard courts and will certainly have plans to begin having more success on grass and clay.
This is something Williams managed to achieve throughout her career, while also remaining the World number one for 319 weeks and a record 186 consecutive weeks.
Sabalenka also possesses an aggressive and powerful game similar to that of Serena, and this is something Andy Roddick asked Kim Clijsters to share her thoughts on during her guest appearance on his ‘Served’ podcast.
The Belgian, who believes the players do have similar playing styles, said: “Yeah definitely. When I was watching the match, just sitting behind the court and seeing the power that comes off the one side, it reminded me so much of just trying to hang in there, you just have to try to stay with her.
“Honestly, when you have somebody who’s serving as well as Sabalenka, you put a lot more pressure on your own return game too and on your service games especially. There’s so much more pressure.
“You just constantly feel under pressure and you feel that every shot that you hit you have to do something with it and that becomes sometimes a little overwhelming.”
Did Aryna Sabalenka and Serena Williams ever play each other?
Williams and Sabalenka did cross paths on one occasion before the 23-time Grand Slam champion retired in 2022.
They faced one another in the round of 16 at the 2021 Australian Open, and it was a titanic affair.
Williams, who was going for her seventh title at Melbourne Park and 24th Grand Slam, took the first set, before Sabalenka came roaring back to take set two.
But it was Williams who used her experience and mental strength to outlast Sabalenka 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 and advance to the quarter-finals.
Serena’s quest for the title ended at the hands of Naomi Osaka in the semi-finals, who went on to claim the title.
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