Coach Anton Dubrov says the times of Aryna Sabalenka not believing she will do properly on clay are lengthy gone and due to this fact he would not draw any similarities between the Belarusian and the enduring remark Maria Sharapova made about enjoying on the slowest tennis floor.
After successful her first Grand Slam title as a 17-year-old woman at 2004 Wimbledon, the previous Russian tennis star additionally landed her first US Open trophy in 2006. However whereas the now 37-year-old rapidly established herself as a celebrity and a big-time participant, she simply wasn’t managing to make a breakthrough at Roland Garros in her first couple of appearances.
“I really feel like a cow on ice. Particularly on clay. I do not play on clay for the opposite 10 months of the yr. It isn’t as pure for me,” Sharapova mentioned in 2007 following her second-round win at Roland Garros over Jill Craybas.
In terms of Sabalenka, she is a four-time Slam finalist – a three-time winner – has two Australian Open and one US Open trophy in her assortment. Whereas the Belarusian has most likely been the very best participant on laborious over the past two years, she has but to make a French Open ultimate.
After not making it previous the third spherical in any of her 5 major draw appearances in Paris, the 26-year-old reached the semifinal final yr earlier than exiting on this yr’s quarterfinal. Additionally, Sabalenka has 16 titles in her assortment however her first titles on clay have been solely back-to-back victories that got here on the Madrid Open in 2021 and 2023.
Now, a Russian outlet requested her long-time coach if they might relate to Sharapova’s remark.
“I feel this advanced disappeared a very long time in the past. We mentioned it together with her. Now on clay she has a clearer understanding of what and the way to do to win. It takes extra legs, however creates extra pauses. You might be in an everlasting steadiness: discover the place to make use of a pause, and the place to take your time, because the scenario is troublesome. I see that she has began to maneuver higher on clay. However she will do [even] higher. And subsequent yr we’ll give attention to this. Nonetheless, successful Wimbledon remains to be extra prestigious,” Dubrov advised Championat.
Can Sabalenka pull of a Sharapova?
The Russian tennis icon’s case is likely one of the most fascinating. As talked about above, she grew to become a really sturdy drive on quicker courts very early in her profession and she or he did not cover that she did not like enjoying on clay in any respect.
However when her profession completed, the French Open ended up being her most profitable event – she received the Parisian Slam twice and completed with one victory in every of the opposite three Majors. These two triumphs at Roland Garros got here in 2012 and 2014 and have been her final two Slam wins.
To this point, Sabalenka has managed to win twice the WTA 1000 event in Madrid – which has most likely the quickest clay on the Tour.
Figuring out the three-time Slam champion’s mindset, she at all times goes to the French Open with the one aim being successful it. However Iga Swiatek has been completely dominant there, successful the final three event editions.
Dubrov reveals the massive challenge that hampered Sabalenka throughout this yr’s French Open loss
After the Belarusian and Swiatek met on this yr’s Madrid and Rome finals, the expectation was that they might additionally meet within the French Open ultimate. The Pole did make the ultimate however her greatest rival did not after Mirra Andreeva upset the world No. 2 6-7 (5) 6-4 6-4.
Now, coach Dubrov reveals that the 26-year-old suffered from meals poisoning simply earlier than the match and did not really feel properly in any respect.
“She bought meals poisoning the day earlier than in a restaurant. And by the tip of the match with Navarro, she felt sick. After the match, we arrived on the lodge, and she or he had a chilly shiver: she was mendacity in mattress and had a fever. After that, we solely had a light-weight exercise, however earlier than the match with Mirra, it was unhappy: 20-Half-hour of warming up, after which there was no power. In case your abdomen is thrashing, it’s beating you laborious,” he defined.
“And actually after a few video games, she mentioned that she had no power. She didn’t eat something, all the pieces harm. In the event you take a look at the match, you possibly can see that the individual enjoying just isn’t 100% prepared. And alternatively, there’s Mirra, who did all the pieces proper: she fought, didn’t give us a simple life. After that, we draw conclusions about diet and that we must be extra cautious: search for extra confirmed locations. As a result of it was extraordinarily offensive.”
Whereas Sabalenka did not win any clay titles this yr, ending as runner-up within the WTA 1000 tournaments in Madrid and Rome was undoubtedly proof that she will play extraordinarily properly even on the slowest floor.
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