Rueda de prensa con Aryna Sabalenka // MUTUA MADRID OPEN 2024

um she's a young opponent but a tricky opponent what she like to play yeah she's uh wow okay I didn't expect that uh yeah she's a great player and uh for some some on her age she's playing incredible tennis and uh she's a tough opponent moving well sing well so it was it was a tough battle uh I mean even though the score wasn't that tough but it was tough to play against her and I'm just super happy to together through through this Stu much after the match with Collins you started very concentrated have you played before did you heard about Andrea I mean had you trained with her before or something I mean I played I played uh uh one match against her here in Madrid and then we played exhibition um against each other so I I I know the girl I know this girl and um I saw her a lot and um I mean she's a young player nothing to lose so you have to be really focused and um not give her much opportunity so I try to stay focused on myself and I try to uh play my best tennis congrats Arena so many bottles bottles guys I mean very delicious water just congratulations on making it back to the semis uh I'm curious with the three set wins that you were able to get through earlier obviously in the tournament like before the tournament you had made a joke that it's not a big three it's a big two because you haven't played as well as you would have liked after AO how big was that win specifically against Collins to kind of almost seemingly play you kind of into form it seemed like a the old Arena today yeah I mean it was really important win for me and and I and yeah as I said I kind of like dropped my level uh for a little bit uh in the past U I don't know couple of tournaments so it was really important for me to get this tough tough win uh to fill the uh confidence again and to feel better on Court and I'm I'm super happy that I was able to get through uh through this tough uh tough match and of course it gave me uh more belief and I kind of like start feeling better on Court and today um uh it was kind of like a proof that um I start feeling better and start playing better tennis and hopefully I just can keep keep growing the level and keep uh keep doing what I'm doing um earlier today reaka said that she finds these longer 1,000 events quite tiring which is probably good news for you for tomorrow but how do you find them do you like having a day off or is it tough to stay physically and mentally fresh well um it's a tough question uh me personally I prefer to have a day off uh it's kind of like long it takes long for the tournament you know like two weeks tournament it's kind of like long but um at the same time I prefer to play the match than have a day day off uh um so for me physically it's it's better um so yeah that's my opinion you said that you feel like you're playing better is there a specific shot that when it works that that tells you that you're in form uh drop shot no no no there is no specific shot it's just like the way I feel the the the the decisions I'm making on Court and uh it's not about specific shot it's about the way I'm thinking a court and the way um I'm making my decisions come here you were number one in doubles in the world are you still friend with Liz merens but you don't play any more doubles or sometimes I mean yeah of course I'm friend with her she's a very nice girl and we always talk to each other when we see each other and um but yeah I mean I play doubles a lot but then I decid to focus more on Singles uh because I mean it's tough to con concentrate on both it takes so much energy and um I love I love playing doubles but um I mean focus is on Singles and probably one day I'll I'll play a little bit uh more doubles but um not for now another question from [Music] courney ARA looking ahead to playing Elena again obviously you guys have had some really tough battles in very high profile matches as well as when the stakes are high typically finals I'm curious what do you make of her season so far what she's been able to do and then secondly when you have been able to get the wins what has been the key for you to getting them and when you've fallen short what has she been able to do that has been you know tougher for you to solve uh well about her season uh so far she's doing an incredible job and I'm impressed by the consistency she's bringing on cour and uh that's that's really something amazing and I'm super happy for her and about all those matches I mean I think about us is like we're both aggressive players we're both s sing well and it's about to um I mean when I was winning I was focusing on myself and I was staying really aggressive on those key moments and uh when she was winning she was more aggressive than me and I was trying to kind of like say it myself in those moments so um I think I think the main the main key for me is just to focus in on myself and to stay aggressive no matter what and and yeah I mean it's I I don't know it's uh you know like it's tough to say that the key was just because like some shot is weak weaker than another one it's just about to uh go there and and be ready for a great uh battle great uh not great tough tough uh fight and just uh do your best in in each point any more questions okay very much