Playing against an opponent in front of their home crowd and playing a crucial match at a neutral venue makes a hell-and-heaven difference. And who knows it better than Aryna Sabalenka? On Thursday at the Rod Laver Arena, crowd support made a key difference for Aryna Sabalenka compared to the US Open against Coco Gauff.

Earlier during the tournament, Sabalenka had wished to stay in Melbourne till the very last day. And guess what? She took her revenge against Coco Gauff and will now make back-to-back appearances in the AO finals. After the match, the world no.2 thanked the crowd for their incredible support throughout the game.

Aryna Sabalenka reveals she was ready to face anything to defeat Coco Gauff

Sabalenka had plenty of support on her at the Rod Laver Arena this time. The 25-year-old Belarusian was once even caught blushing during the match when a fan loudly chanted to her “Come on, Sabalenka!” just before she was going to serve for the set. 

Recalling these epic moments from the match and comparing it with the scenario she faced when she had last faced Gauff. Sabalenka said, “I was prepared that she’s going to move really good and put a lot of balls back. I had to be ready to play an extra shot. Tonight I was ready for anything.” Then she went on to add, “And your support, last time I played her I had hardly any.”

During the initial stages of the tournament, Sabalenka said that she felt great to be back and expressed her love for the support and atmosphere in Melbourne. She’ll now hope to get a similar atmosphere on Saturday hoping to clinch her second Grand Slam title.

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Sabalenka loves playing against Coco Gauff

In the post-match interview on the court, Sabalenka heaped praise on Gauff and said, “Yeah, I really do [enjoy playing against Coco]. As I said before. It’s always a great fight. She’s an incredible player. I really enjoy playing her, win or lose anyway it is a great match and she’s a great player. I really hope that we’re gonna in the future we’re gonna play many more finals. And I mean, hopefully, I’m going to win all of them.” 

It took Sabalenka 1 hour 42 minutes to defeat Coco Gauff by 7-6(2),6-4 in the semifinal clash. She’s in tremendous form and hasn’t yet lost more than 3 games in any set prior to this match. Can she become the first player to defend the women’s singles title at the Australian Open after an almost decade-long gap?

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