Aryna Sabalenka got off to a flying start in her seventh appearance at the French Open! She defeated Russia’s Erika Andreeva comfortably by a 6-1,6-2 margin in just 68 minutes in her first-round match. With this victory, the Belarusian tennis star has now extended her Grand Slam winning streak to eight matches. She has now made it a habit of reaching the SF in the Grand Slam. But can she go a step further on Parisian soil? If she somehow manages to clinch the title here in Paris, then she’d become the first woman to win the AO & French Open in the same year since Serena Williams in 2015.
Serena Williams has three French Open titles in her career. Her third title came in 2015 when she defeated the former tennis player from the Czech Republic, Lucie Safarova by 6-3,6(2)-7,6-2 in the finals. Aryna Sabalenka has always idolized Williams and wanted to follow in her footsteps. There are multiple such examples when she matched the records of ‘Queen of the Court’ with her incredible performances. But at the moment she isn’t too bothered with all these stats. Recently during her post-match interview in Paris, she was asked to reflect on her thoughts of equaling Serena Williams’ record.
To this Sabalenka replied, “I mean I know it and now probably it’s going to be in the back of my mind. I’m kidding (laughs). Uh, I’m just trying to you know separate myself from all these facts. And I mean I know that if I’ll be able to focus on myself and I’ll be able to fight for every point and try to find a solution in each game, I’ll 3be able to win these big tournaments.” She further went on to add, “But you know like I just try to take it step by step.”
There have been multiple such instances when Aryna Sabalenka matched Serena Williams’ feat in the past. In 2023, she had a win-loss record of 22-2 at the Grand Slam events. As per Opta, only Serena Williams (2009 & 2015) and Jennifer Capriati (2001) had won more from their first twenty-four Grand Slam matches of the season in this century. She was also the first female player to make it to the semis in five consecutive Grand Slam appearances (US Open 2022-US Open 2023) since Williams (10).
Even this year, Aryna Sabalenka became only the fifth player in the women’s tour to win the Grand Slam title in Australia without dropping a set. Serena Williams did it in 2017. Even last year she faced a similar question in Rome and here’s what she said in her reply to comparison with Williams.
Aryna Sabalenka wants to get as close as she can with Serena Williams
Both the tennis stars are prime examples of supreme power play on the court. Serena Williams used to generate a lot of power in her returns and her serves were equally powerful. Even Aryna Sabalenka has some real venom in her shots. Reflecting on this similar style of play, she was once asked to reflect her thoughts on this.
Sabalenka was a bit surprised by this comparison but later on, she went on to add, “I don’t know. I don’t think about that. That sounds good, you know (smiling)? I don’t know. I’m not thinking about that, I’m not focusing on that. I’m just focusing on improving myself and getting better every day.“
She said this sounds a bit “crazy” and went on to say, “I’m doing everything I can to get closer not like to her but to my dream. I’m working really hard. I’m trying to stay focused on every match, every tournament.” Aryna Sabalenka has been putting in a lot of hard work this year on the clay courts. Currently, she has a win-loss record of 12-3 on clay. Do you think she can really match Serena Williams’ record in Paris this year?
