Aryna Sabalenka conceded that her latest win at Wimbledon wasn’t her finest display but she isn’t going to dwell on it too much.
The Australian Open champion started with an error-stricken performance before coming back to defeat French world number 42 Varvara Gracheva 2-6, 7-5, 6-2. In total, she hit 35 unforced errors which were nine more than her opponent and higher than her winner count of 28. Another issue for her was the second serve where she could only win nine out of 27 points played.
Dissecting her performance afterward, the world No.2 said in her press conference that she believed the stringing of her racket, to begin with, caused her problems. Today at Wimbledon has been by far the hottest and most humid day after a week which has been marred by rain showers.
“I didn’t play my best tennis. It was a crazy, crazy experience,” she admitted. “But then I change my strings to adjust my game a little bit. I started feeling better on court. I was just telling myself to keep fighting, keep trying, and probably you’ll be able to turn this game around.”
Sabalenka explained that the changing of string tension in her rackets meant when she hit the balls they didn’t travel as fast and therefore more of her shots landed in.
Coming into this tournament, the 25-year-old did have reservations about how she would fare on the grass. Even though she reached the semi-final stage back in 2021. One of her concerns was regarding how she would be received by the crowd. Sabalenka, who is from Belarus, was banned from participating last year due to the war in Ukraine.
“I felt like the grass here is a little bit different. I was a little bit worried about how I’m going to adjust my game to this grass,” she said.
“Then we were banned last year. I didn’t know what to expect from people. For me, it’s really important to feel their support in the match. After the first match, I felt amazing. I was thankful for all the support. It was an amazing atmosphere, an amazing feeling playing here.”
Sabalenka will be hoping to continue having the crowd cheering her on when she plays Anna Blinkova in the next round. A player who she leads 2-0 in their head-to-head.
