Years go by and the time has not come Aryna Sabalenka. We do see her stay in the top 10, we do see her competing on the WTA circuit, but that first Grand Slam title that many of us predicted a couple of seasons ago hasn’t come to an end. Not even that first final, since for the second year in a row she was one step away from fighting for the conquest of the US Open.
The Belarusian matched Every Swiatek, that must be recognized, until his mental fragility prevented him from keeping the pulse in the last two games of the third set. Another train that passed through her station, so she will have to continue fighting in 2023. At her farewell press conference, the Mins native did not dare to take off her sunglasses to hide the pain of defeat, although she did take off strength of weakness to answer the questions.
sadness after defeat
“How should I feel right now? Clearly not very well. The match was decided on a handful of points, but she played very well in the key moments, she did great”.
Swiatek’s reaction in the second set
“Iga is a player who is constantly looking for her game, she was trying to hit every ball to put pressure on me, playing very aggressive all the time. I think I especially gave him a lot of chances in the first few games of the second set, but as soon as he was up 2-0 he was already on the run to go for it, I could only fight to turn it around. She started playing with less pressure on her and more pressure on me. Her playing so aggressive she managed to stay in the match, which was a mistake on my part, she should have gone for it.”
Fourth consecutive loss against Iga
“I don’t think they affected me much, in the three games we played at the beginning of the season I was a different player, I wasn’t the same as now. At that time she was a player trying to survive without her service, without her game. She would say that today I have been able to bring out the real me, although it was not enough. I really didn’t think about those three previous games, because I knew that I wasn’t the same and that she couldn’t change it either. Today I was fighting for other things, I had many opportunities, but I didn’t take advantage of them”.
A resurrection tournament
“I think I can take positive things from this experience, positive things from this tournament after such a tough year. When I came here to the US Open, I didn’t really expect to get any wins, but I did. I suddenly started to play better, now I feel like I have to keep going, keep trying, keep fighting, keep giving my best. That way I think things will go better. If not this year, next year I’ll be ready for anything.”
Second semifinals at the US Open
“At this moment I don’t think anything related to last year, although my team has repeated it to me on occasion, that I have to be proud of myself, of what I have achieved in recent months. But I don’t feel that way, I feel that in the three Grand Slam semifinals that I have played I had many opportunities, but I didn’t take advantage of them. I guess I’m trying to think that everything happens for a reason, I guess that will make me really strong. I guess in the next semi-final I will be much stronger as a player”.
