“I’ll try better next time” – Sabalenka takes lessons from Swiatek loss
Aryna Sabalenka is taking positives from her loss to Iga Swiatek in the Italian Open final, despite the one-sided match in Rome
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Heading into the final of the Italian Open in Rome against Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka would have been hoping for a competitive match.
It wasn’t to be, with the No 2 seed getting blown away 6-2, 6-3 by world No 1 Swiatek in under and hour and a half. However, she’s taken plenty of lessons from the defeat, ones she hopes to employ later this month at Roland-Garros.
“It wasn’t the final I really expected. Didn’t play my best at all,” Sabalenka confessed.
“Anyway, I’m going to be positive after these couple of weeks. I went through so many things during these weeks. I’m proud that I was able to, no matter what, stay there, to keep winning, to keep fighting my way to the final.
“Even though it didn’t go my way, I’m still happy with the result here in Rome.”
Sabalenka rues missed opportunities against Swiatek
While Sabalenka only managed to win five games on Saturday afternoon, the Belarusian still had her opportunities across the match. She was largely unable to capitalise, something she reflected on in her post-match comments.
“I would say the first set I didn’t play well at all,” Sabalenka said. “I wasn’t – I don’t know – feeling my game well.”
“In the second set I just tried to stay a little bit more aggressive. Maybe I tried to go through her backhand so she doesn’t have the forehand too much. I just tried to put her a little bit under pressure. I had couple of opportunities to break her serve.
“Probably if I would take that opportunity, the match would goes differently. I didn’t use it, so it is how it is. I’ll try better next time.”
“It makes me rush things” – Sabalenka on Swiatek’s break point defence
Swiatek saved all seven break points she faced in the Rome final, and is now 18 from 19 across her last three matches.
Sabalenka shared that the Pole’s consistent play on break point makes her challenging to play, and leads to errors from her end.
“I don’t know. I know that she’s moving well and I have to stay aggressive, I have to keep pushing. There is little chance that she’s going to give me an easy point. Maybe knowing that, it makes me rush things a little bit,” revealed Sabalenka.
“I guess that’s what I’m going to try to do differently next time when I’m playing against her, not rush things, trust my game, and know that I don’t have to overdo stuff to get those key points.”
Despite the one-sided match on Saturday, Sabalenka is feeling confident heading into Roland-Garros. The world No 2 believes it’s “50/50” who wins, and looks forward to another meeting with Swiatek potentially.
