Aryna Sabalenka suggests she would prefer to have a shorter gap between the Australian Open and the French Open, a move which would at the same time make a bigger between Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
After losing the Australian Open final to Madison Keys, the world No. 1 competed in the opening two WTA 1000 tournaments in Doha and Dubai but only went 1-2.
This week, Sabalenka returned to action in Indian Wells with a 7-6 (4) 6-3 opening win against McCartney Kessler. Following her win, the Belarusian said she got back to feeling “hungry” again – which wasn’t the case during the Middle East swing.
“I’d say that Indian Wells feels like a Grand Slam, and back-to-back Indian Wells and Miami. I love this tournament. For me, [it] feels pretty big. Psychologically, I think it’s not that tough,” the three-time Grand Slam winner said.
After making her admiration for the Sunshine Double clear, the 26-year-old also claimed that she didn’t have enough time to prepare for the Middle East swing and shared that she usually finds that part of the season as “mentally and physically tough.”
Sabalenka: March is good… But only if there was more time between the French Open and Wimbledon
“But March is good, and then there is Rome, Madrid, like beautiful tournaments. I don’t know. I’m not thinking about [it], I just love playing in those cities – and the atmosphere is great,” she added.
“But if they would probably put it a little bit closer, like, and give us a little bit more time in between Roland Garros and Wimbledon, it probably would be a little bit better. But, I mean, it is how it is.”
Sabalenka has won the Australian Open twice and the US Open once and she also has one lost final in each of those Grand Slams. When it comes to Rokand Garros, the 26-year-old only has one semifinal reached there in 2023. At Wimbledon, she is a two-time semifinalist.
Tennis World USA