US OPEN

August 23, 2024

Aryna Sabalenka

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome. Impressive win last week in Cincinnati. Your thoughts on the Open this year.

ARYNA SABALENKA: Yeah, I'm super happy with the title. Very important one. Just super excited to be back at the US Open, one of my favorite slams.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Are you the best hard court player in the world?

ARYNA SABALENKA: What a question. I don't know. You better ask other players (smiling).

Q. What do you think?

ARYNA SABALENKA: I mean, I think I definitely do really well on the hard court.

Q. I saw on your TikTok you posted the TikTok dance to the Apple Dance. What does "brat summer" mean to you and are you having one right now?

ARYNA SABALENKA: Well, that was a fun video, actually. My summer so far is a lot of hard work and a little bit of TikTok (smiling).

Q. Just thinking back to last year, and obviously the disappointment you had of not winning the title in the end, and you have had some other close ones here, as well, do you feel like you have unfinished business here at the US Open? Is it something that's in your mind a lot as you try to motivate yourself?

ARYNA SABALENKA: It's not like it's in my mind a lot that I kind of, like, have unfinished something here, but those tough losses definitely motivated me a lot to hard work and to improve things which didn't work in the previous years.

Every time I'm coming here, I'm really hoping for the best result. I really hope one day I'll be happy to lift this beautiful trophy. Yeah.

Q. Before your summer hard court season started, you were talking about how good it felt to of course be healthy again and you felt really refreshed. How do you feel having three events later and playing quite a few matches, do you still feel that same sense of freshness and overall how does it feel? How's the shoulder and how is everything looking for you?

ARYNA SABALENKA: Yeah, yeah, I mean, it was that little break was much needed. The first two tournaments were kind of like tricky with the shoulder. Like, first time I faced this kind of fear of getting injured.

But I'm really happy that in Cincinnati things clicked for me, and I trust the hard work we did. I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to get injured again.

I still feel hungry, and I still feel maybe not fresh-fresh, but definitely like ready to go, and I feel like hungrier than I was before the Wimbledon.

Q. So mentally and physically, since the Australian Open, do you think you're probably feeling at your best now? I read, not just about the shoulder injury at Wimbledon, but the interview you gave to "The Guardian" where you said you probably overplayed and carried on playing in March after the terrible events there?

ARYNA SABALENKA: Yeah, well, I think definitely after this year mentally I will become even stronger, which I felt like there is no gap to get stronger mentally than I am at the moment. But yeah, things showed me that actually there is way to improve.

Yeah, looking back, I definitely think that I should have just stopped and just kind of like, yeah, like, separate myself from tennis, just, like, have this little break and recharge and kind of like start things over again.

I think I kind of, like, overplayed, and I carried a lot. At the end, it just hit me with the injury, and also, I was sick, I was injured, I had stomach issue at the French Open. You know, like, health-wise I was struggling a lot, and yeah, and that's why I think that this break was much needed.

Not like I'm happy to get injured, but I'm happy that I had this time off and this kind of like time to reset my mind, and yeah, to get ready for the hard court.

Q. There have been a few calls recently during matches that were not reviewable. Some players wondered why can't we check it on video. They do have a system here for that on some courts. Do you like that? Do you think it should be everywhere? Do you prefer letting chair umpires figure it out the way they have been?

ARYNA SABALENKA: I mean, I think that's really important that we have this system here, because I saw those tough calls. I think that's really unfair for some of the players, you know, like, not to be able to review the referee calls. And also, for the referees, you kind of can understand, like, tennis improved a lot, and it's faster, it's not that easy to be on the chair, be a chair umpire.

So I think that's going to be helpful for everybody and healthy for everyone to have these reviews. So I think that's really a cool thing to have.

Q. You were just talking about sort of all the tough aspects, the injuries and all that in tennis. But over the years, so often, we've seen you laughing, joyous, giggling, rubbing somebody's bald head, having a lot of fun. Could you talk about the joy you feel, the little girl giggles. Where did that come from? Does that help you on the circuit?

ARYNA SABALENKA: I mean, I think my personality came from my father. I wish he would be still alive. I think we would have so much fun together right now.

But, you know, like this joy came with the experience and with the understanding a lot of stuff. Because before, I was probably too much into tennis and trying to be too focused, like, putting myself under so much pressure.

Lately, I just realized that this is not how things works. You have to balance this hard work, these expectations, pressure, and everything, with little joy. You know, you have to find, like, things which brings you joy, and I have my crazy team and we have so much fun together (smiling).

Yeah, and I think that's really important to balance these things. Just trying to be me off court, you know, just not to be too serious or too focused.

Q. Did you get into deep trouble with your boyfriend over the...

ARYNA SABALENKA: You know, like, first time I came to Arthur Ashe and the crowd was, like, Show us your boyfriends. I'm, like, Why? No, he was laughing. He knows that I have only him. (Laughter.)

But I don't know what's wrong with this world, like, for the second time I'm making this stupid mistake. Probably need to work on my English pronunciation. It's terrible. It's been really terrible lately.

Q. When you watch video of yourself, recent video of yourself, as both a player and also seeing your emotions and your happiness, what does it make you feel?

ARYNA SABALENKA: Which exactly videos? Like, me watching myself playing?

Q. Yeah, when you watch video of the way you're playing and the way you're approaching the game emotionally. How does it make you feel?

ARYNA SABALENKA: Well, when I see some of my shots, I feel, like, wow, how I was able to make that one. You know, the way I'm playing right now, I feel really proud, because I know how hard I work to improve my game, to be able to do all those kind of like tricky shots and to have this variation in the game.

So it just brings me only like positive emotions. Also, it's like when I see myself, like, improving some stuff, it just motivate me and kind of inspire myself to work hard and to find some more stuff to improve and to get better.

Q. Of all the times in your career, how would you rate your happiness right now as a player?

ARYNA SABALENKA: I mean, right now I'm somewhere like if we are rating up to 10, then I'm somewhere, like, 6, 7.

Q. A lot of players maybe because of the Olympics didn't have their usual preparation for US Open like they would have. Is it hard to tell, outside of you who just won last week, is it hard to tell who is ready to win this week?

ARYNA SABALENKA: I mean, I think everyone who came here they think they are ready to win, and I think it's not about who is ready. You can be ready better than the rest of the group, but at the end of the day it's all about how hard are you ready to fight for it, and yeah, how hard you are ready to fight for it. Especially on those days when you don't feel your best.

Q. The title in Cincinnati, not just the title but also beating Jess, beating Iga, how much of that did you feel after that tournament was, like, a weight off of your shoulders of kind of getting those wins, getting a title since Australian Open, or how much of it felt, like, a lift?

ARYNA SABALENKA: I mean, I definitely felt really, like, really good after Cincinnati title. It was very important for me to get that title and to get those wins.

I think, yeah, I was really happy with the level I played. It's not like it's weight out of my shoulder. It just little, like, happy moment before going to the US Open, which is also very important to have this good feelings before the big tournaments.