She is having the season of her life, has won a grand slam and is one step away from reaching at least the semi-finals at every big four event. There can be no doubt that Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenkova will rightfully become the new world tennis number one.
She went to bed and woke up in the morning knowing that she would be the new world number one.
Poland’s Iga Šwiateková did not make it to the round of 16 with Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, she will not defend last year’s title and will relinquish the top post to her rival.
“I didn’t really watch the match until the end,” Sabalenková admitted at Monday’s press conference, when she advanced to the quarterfinals of the US Open.
“It was worth the effort, but I preferred to go to bed, because the next day I had my own round of 16. In the morning, I was surprised at how many messages and messages I had on my phone,” said the Belarusian.
But then she surprised the journalist by saying that even if she had watched the round of 16 battle between Poland and Latvia, she would still be rooting for Šwiatek.
“I would push her to win. Now I’m really quite sad, I didn’t want to become world number one in such a way,” explained Sabalenková.
“I wanted to go to the finals against Iza and win that privilege right on the court,” added the player, who will officially become number one on Monday, during the next “release” of the new ranking.
On the other hand, she admitted that she is experiencing a really fantastic season, which would be a shame not to spice it up by taking the world throne.
“I realize that the number one title didn’t fall into my lap by accident. I’ve been chasing Iga for a long time, I’ve played great tournaments,” Sabalenková boasted.
“However, sport is about rivalry and I hope that Iga and I will face each other in a direct fight somewhere soon,” she wished.
Until he finishes at the tournament, he has no plans to celebrate his ranking success. “I’m still in the game, I’ll just focus on the next match, there will be enough time to celebrate afterwards,” she added.
Her next opponent will be the Chinese woman Cheng Chin-wen, who surprisingly knocked out the Tunisian Uns Jabirová.
“I feel great here, of course there is still room for improvement, but nothing changes for me. Every tennis player who plays against me goes with the fact that she has nothing to lose. I have to show the best tennis I have in me,” she explained future tennis queen.
2023-09-05 14:32:50
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