The turmoil of losing is like nothing else. WTA World No.1, Aryna Sabalenka recently opened up about her defeat at the US Open. Sabalenka was up against the American teenage sensation Coco Gauff in the final, which made the defeat all the more bitter. Her statement clarified a lot of things that happened during and after the match. She even talked about getting emotional after the loss.

Although the 25-year-old had a strong opening set, winning 6-2, Gauff soon took over in the following set, winning it 3-6. The third and final set also panned out in Coco’s favor as she beat Aryna with ease (2-6). Aryna, in this recent statement, talked about what she learned from this mortifying loss.

Aryna Sabalenka admitting her slips

Losing to a teenager when you’re at the peak of your career comes bearing a lot of self-doubt. The Belarusian champ was seen crying at the stands after the finals, indicating how much of an emotional pitfall it was for her. Coco Gauff, on the other hand, was at her happiest, as it was a big turning point in her professional career as well.

Talking about the defeat, the Belarusian said, “My biggest takeaway was that I need to learn how to finish the points on the net (smiling). We worked a lot on my volley game.. I got over-emotional there. I wasn’t controlling myself. I was thinking all over the place in that second set. That was the biggest takeaway.. Again, I took couple of days off just to switch off & forgot about tennis bc it was a really tough, tough loss for me. It was super emotional.” 

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Aryna Sabalenka openly acknowledges that mastering the art of finishing points at the net is among the crucial notches she was missing. She even conceded that her emotions ran high during the finals as she had poured tremendous effort into her volley game.

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Sabalenka was disheartened by this defeat, so much so that she refrained from talking about it for some time. She even turned herself away from tennis for a brief moment.

Sabalenka’s break from tennis

Aryna spent some time away from tennis as she confesses how tough of a defeat it was for her. It seems like Aryna was not ready to lose the way she did. It would’ve been one thing if she would’ve given Coco a tough competition, however her performance in the last two sets was quite frail. 

She said, “I took couple of days off just to switch off & forgot about tennis because it was a really tough, tough loss for me. It was super emotional.”

Aryna willfully cut off ties from the sport so that she could have some peace of mind. However, it looks like she is back in the game with more enthusiasm than ever. 

The way Sabalenka talked about her weak points was quite calculative. She must have spent a good amount of time analyzing her mistakes and making herself better. Her prowess is still top-tier, which suggests it wouldn’t be tough for her to get her confidence back.

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