Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, number one in the WTA ranking, said she is “excited” to return to Madrid to a tournament where she has always felt “comfortable” and spoke, on a personal level, about the doping cases that have emerged in recent months within the circuit and that make her “afraid” and extreme concern to the point of only drinking and eating “things” that she has been able to “control to the maximum”.
Sabalenka is in Madrid to compete in a tournament she has won twice, in 2021 and 2023, and in which last year she was a finalist and lost the champion’s trophy to Poland’s Iga Swiatek. “I’m very excited to be here. Madrid is a tournament where I have always felt very comfortable. I have tried not to think about last year’s final, but being here it is inevitable to remember it. The truth is that it was an impressive show and I proved to myself that I can play at a very high level on clay,” said Sabalenka.
I have tried not to think about last year’s final, losing that match was very painful for me
“ Losing that match was very painful for me, but the truth is that I feel honored to have been the protagonist of a duel like that,” said the world number one, who was blunt when talking about her preference for one-week or two-week tournaments.
“I prefer the two-week tournaments because having a day off between matches allows you to be more relaxed, go out to dinner with your team and explore the city. Maybe in a few years I’ll not be so interested in that and I’d rather spend more time at home, but right now, that’s my mentality,” she said.
In Madrid, Sabalenka will play on clay, a surface on which you have “extra time when hitting”. “Historically that has made me confused, many ideas have come to mind and I have made mistakes. On this court you have to be physically prepared and, above all, have good tactical intelligence. I think this surface is the one that allows you to improve in all aspects of the game,” she said.
On this court you have to be physically prepared and, above all, have good tactical intelligence
One of the current topics on the international circuit is the electronic system in arbitration. “I always prefer the automatic one because there are situations in which the chair umpires could make mistakes since the visible marks do not always correspond to reality, because of the trajectory and speed of the ball,” he said.
Sabalenka also spoke about the latest doping cases that have come to light on the world circuit and which make her alert to any unforeseen events that may arise with something she does not control. “What has happened makes me much more careful and aware of the danger we are in since the last cases that we all know about have emerged. I only drink and eat things that I have been able to control to the maximum and that my team supplies me with. I’m very careful about who I interact with or who I touch. Someone might have a cream with a banned substance and pass it on to my body, so it’s pretty scary, but that’s the way it is,” she concluded.
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