Aryna Sabalenka claims undercooked meat was the reason she felt unwell during last year’s surprise French Open loss to Mirra Andreeva but highlights that she won’t make the same mistake again.
After winning the 2024 Australian Open title and also winning her opening four French Open matches in four sets, the Belarusian looked primed for her maiden title at Roland Garros.
But then, her campaign ended in the quarterfinal after current world No. 15 Andreeva came back from a set down to beat her 6-7 (5) 6-4 6-4.
Throughout the match, Sabalenka appeared to be in some kind of pain and discomfort.
Later, the world 26-year-old said that she was ill and dealing with stomach pain during the loss.
Since then, the Belarusian hasn’t had a Grand Slam loss – she skipped Wimbledon and won the US Open.
On Saturday, she will meet Andreeva again – this time in the round-of-16 at Melbourne Park.
Sabalenka: I ate pretty rare cooked meat and felt bad afterward
“Like a day before, I had pretty rare meat. You know, I usually go for medium well, and I ask for medium well, but I think it wasn’t cooked enough, and yeah, I think I just, yeah, my stomach didn’t like that,” the world No. 1 shared.
“And yeah, I felt really bad after on the next day, so now I’m making sure that the meat is cooked well.”
Aryna Sabalenka© YouTube screenshot
Heading into her Australian Open round-of-16 match, the three-time Grand Slam winner has a 3-1 head-to-head against Andreeva.
Also, Sabalenka has already clinched one win over the 17-year-old this year, having beaten the rising Russian star 6-3 6-2 en route to winning the Brisbane International in the first week of the season.
The top seed is the favorite to win again and she will presumably be a little bit extra motivated to beat Andreeva this year and make amends for the loss she suffered in their last Slam meeting.
Tennis World USA