AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 15, 2025

Aryna Sabalenka

Press Conference

A. SABALENKA/J. Bouzas Maneiro

6-3, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Aryna, congratulations on the win. How pleased are you to be able to get that done in two sets?

ARYNA SABALENKA: Yeah, I'm super happy to have finished this match in straight sets. She played incredible tennis, especially in the second set. I'm really happy I was able to turn around that set.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You're meeting Clara Tauson next. How well do you know her? What are your thoughts on her as a player?

ARYNA SABALENKA: I mean, I think we never played against each other, but I saw her matches. I think I'll just leave that part for my team to figure it. We definitely going to watch her game.

I know that she's very aggressive player, serving well, hitting pretty heavy shots. It's going to be great battle. Really looking forward to face her for the first time.

Q. What do you eat before matches? What is your go-to?

ARYNA SABALENKA: Oh, never actually got asked this question (smiling). What I eat before the matches?

Q. Yes.

ARYNA SABALENKA: So you want to know where my power come from (laughter)? There is no secret. Just good genetics. I'm so grateful for that, from my family (smiling).

No, if it's early match, I just stay with the breakfast. I eat porridge and egg white omelette. Then I have snack like hour and a half before match, like a protein bar with a coffee. Nothing special.

If I have to go for lunch, I stay pretty simple just to avoid the Roland Garros situation. So I stay with chicken and rice and some salad. Then in the evening I go for meat.

Q. What did you eat before Roland Garros?

ARYNA SABALENKA: Like a day before I had pretty rare meat. Usually I go for medium well. I asked for medium well, but I think it wasn't cooked enough. Yeah, I think it just... My stomach didn't like that. Yeah, I felt really bad on the next day.

Now I'm making sure that the meat is cooked well. Before the match, nothing really heavy.

Q. What about during a match?

ARYNA SABALENKA: During the match? Yeah, I have a bar with me full of, like, good carbs and protein, a little bit of fat in it. Like really good bar. Same as food.

The energy stays pretty long. But I only go for it if I feel like need it. Usually I'm not eating during the match. Feels so heavy in the stomach.

Now I want to eat (smiling).

Q. What was your thought when you saw you'd be playing at 11 a.m.? Do you like playing early in the day? Do you prefer playing at night, somewhere in between?

ARYNA SABALENKA: Well, when I saw I play the first match, I was thinking like, No, it's not going to be full crowd. But then I saw a lot of people out there. I was so happy.

I like to play both, like 7 p.m., but not second after men's. I hate it. You can just start at midnight. But also I like the early matches, because if you win, you're done for the day. You can go, you can chill, you can go shopping probably, because next day there is no match on the next day. Or you can go for a good dinner.

I mean, I don't know. I cannot pick which one my favorite.

Q. I enjoyed your on-court interview when you talked about the crowd. How is it? You're so beloved here in Australia. Obviously the neutral tennis fan enjoys an upset sometimes. Do you feel kind of betrayed sometimes during the matches?

ARYNA SABALENKA: No, no, I understand. They want to watch a great match, great battle. They probably want to see three-sets battle. Nobody really interesting seeing 6-Love, 6-Love. I understand that.

Also like during the match they show on the TV - how you call it, always forget - posters with, like, my name or drawing of the tiger. I feel the support anyways. I understand that.

But I hope the next match they're going to cheer for me. Please, c'mon guys.

Q. There will be some Danes also against you.

ARYNA SABALENKA: It's okay. I got it. I got it. I have my team. I'm going to ask my team to scream as loud as possible.

Q. There are a lot of numbers in tennis. Everything is tracked now. Are there any statistics or numbers that interest you that you will look at either after a match or over the course of a season to see how they're going for you?

ARYNA SABALENKA: I mean, I like to see my serve percentage. I loved the statistic of my forehand at the US Open. I was like, Okay, good to know (smiling).

Q. Speed, you mean?

ARYNA SABALENKA: Yeah, the speed of my forehand, the average speed.

But usually I leave it for my team, and then they correct it, and we practice some stuff if something didn't work well and statistics wasn't on my side. Usually for me the most important is percentage on the first serve. First-serve win and second-serve win percentage. Mostly about the serve.

Q. Do you ever see a number and you think that that can't be right or it's very different from what your perception was?

ARYNA SABALENKA: I mean, of course I expect to see 100% first serve, 100% win on the first serve (smiling). Usually it's not like that.

Yeah, I mean, sometimes when I see that my first serve is pretty low, I try to adjust a little bit and go maybe not that full on the first serve just to get the percentage back and get the feeling back.

Usually I'm just concentrating on myself during the match, not trying to overthink stuff.

Q. You spoke a bit earlier in the week about how proud you are to be from Belarus, and a bit of sadness not having a flag next to your name. Do you want to expand on that at all?

ARYNA SABALENKA: Well, as I said, I mean, I have no control on that. I cannot just go out there and push someone to have a flag next to my name. Whatever the decision, it is. I mean, it is how it is.

Yeah, as I said, I was always proud to represent Belarus in terms of it's a small country and I made it from very small country. It's not like I was practicing in the States or in Spain.

I was there. I was proud to represent such a small country. I felt like I was kind of inspiration for the next generation. I was kind of, like, motivating people from there, like tennis athletes.

Not having the flag, once again, it is how it is. If they're going to bring it back, I'm going to be happy. If not, it's okay.

Q. You recently changed the agency that looks after commercial interests. Could you talk through the rationale for switching.

ARYNA SABALENKA: Well, yeah, it's a tricky question.

I was looking for building my brand, kind of like wanted a little bit more than IMG was serve for me. I wasn't happy with the service.

Yeah, there was tension between me and some of the people out there. I'm happy that I was able to finish that chapter of my life. I'm glad with the new beginning. I hope to build something bigger than just the momentum deals.

Q. Your second-serve win was about 58%. Your fastest serve today is about 183 kilometers per hour. You mentioned a couple of times that you won twice here already. You said the third title here in a row would be sweet, but it's not something you think about. Is it really something in your vision right now, given that after Round 2, some of your tough opponents are gone already?

ARYNA SABALENKA: Who is gone?

Q. Quite a few. Qinwen is gone.

ARYNA SABALENKA: I saw she lost. Very sad to see.

Listen, it's a slam, you know? Not everyone can handle these emotions. Once again, as you see, there is so many players who is playing really well in these conditions. It's not like if they gone, it's easy for me. No, it's not.

I have to go there, I have to compete, I have to fight. Today's match proved that. Girls can go there and just play without any fear, without anything to lose. They can put you in really uncomfortable position.

You have to go out there and fight and compete and show your best. As you said, yeah, I prefer to focus day by day, step by step. I really enjoy being out there and compete. This is something I'm focusing on.

About the first serve speed, I think I was too much into that machine. In these conditions probably you're not going to serve your fastest serve because balls getting pretty heavy. When I stop looking at that statistic, I start serving better. I was actually serving some heavy, heavy serves.

I think I'm not going to look at that statistic anymore. I'm going to focus step by step. Yeah, hopefully I can do really well here.