Sabalenka “ready for revenge” if she meets Keys at Indian Wells

The first WTA 1000 event of the season starts this Wednesday in Indian Wells. Often referred to as the ‘fifth Grand Slam’, it is the second major tournament of the season after the Australian Open, which crowned Madison Keys as a Grand Slam champion for the first time.

Indian Wells provides a good opportunity to bounce back for world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who has struggled since losing that final in Melbourne to the American.

Indeed, the Belarusian lost in her first match in Doha against Ekaterina Alexandrova and in the round of 16 in Dubai against Clara Tauson. Does Sabalenka still have that painful Australian Open final defeat to Keys in her mind? The three-time Grand Slam champion swept away this idea in the pre-tournament press conference in Indian Wells.

“I’ve had some tough losses in the past, but this one was hard to accept, to be honest. It took me a week, or even a little more, to stop thinking and move on. I would say that this is a lesson learned and that it is in the past. It’s always – not always actually, but it’s nice to have those tough losses because next time you’ll do a lot better.

“This kind of disappointing loss always motivates me to keep working hard. And yes, it was a tough loss, but I think she’s behind me. Now, I’m ready to take my revenge if I have the opportunity.”

Keys has been warned, as the two women could meet in the semi-finals in the Californian desert.

As an athlete, you learn to have a short memory

This is not the first time that the Belarusian has lost in a Grand Slam final. She lost in the showpiece match of the 2023 US Open to Coco Gauff – a defeat that she had put behind her b y winning a few months later at the Australian Open, her second title in Melbourne, by beating the American in the semis.

Also at a press conference in Indian Wells, Sabalenka explained that a high-level athlete, especially in tennis where there are tournaments every week, needed to know how to move on very quickly.

“Well, look, I’m just like, no matter what, we’re leaving it at that and moving on. And I go to the practice court and work really hard to improve on the things that didn’t work. Basically, that’s it. As an athlete, you learn to have a short memory, I would say, and it’s actually quite easy to do.”

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