“Glad I lost” – Sabalenka credits US Open 2023 failure for win over local Zheng in Wuhan final

Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka has certainly come a long way since succumbing to the crowd pressure during the 2023 US Open final against American Coco Gauff as she defeated local Zheng Qinwen in the Wuhan Open title clash on Sunday.

Much like against Gauff in the New York final, Sabalenka began positively against Zheng by taking the first set but the Chinese, rallied by the home crowd, drew level by claiming the second. The Belarusian, however, didn’t allow her opponent to do more damage and kept her calm, winning the match 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.

“I’m not really focusing on the crowd when they’re against me anymore,” she said in a press conference after kissing the Wuhan trophy for the third time straight. “I don’t really hear them. I’m just focusing on myself and my team. I’m trying to stay focused and keep thinking what I have to do on court, like just thinking about tactic, technical issues.”

Gauff, now world No 4, turned it around against Sabalenka in the 2023 US Open summit clash after losing the opening set to close the match at 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.

“I think that match against Coco last year gave me a lot,” the Wuhan champion added. “I’m actually really glad I lost that match because I think it was better for me. I learned a lot. Right now if crowd is against me, I’m okay with that. I don’t really hear them. I’m focusing on different things.”

Sabalenka interestingly came up with the goods against a similar crowd in this year’s final in New York. Playing against Jessica Pegula, another American crowd favorite, the world No 2 earned a 7-5, 7-5 win to clinch her first US Open glory.

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