Aryna Sabalenka ‘fully recovered’ from Australian Open final loss
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Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka reacting after losing against the United States' Madison Keys during their women's singles final match on day fourteen of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on Jan 25, 2025.
PHOTO: AFP
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DOHA – World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka says she has put her Australian Open final defeat by Madison Keys behind her as she shifts her focus to the ongoing Middle East swing.
She was gunning for a third consecutive Melbourne title in January but stumbled at the last hurdle with a three-set loss to the American.
“This one was the toughest one,” the Belarusian told reporters in Doha on Feb 9.
“I think for a week I was still thinking about that match.
“Honestly, looking back and thinking about those two lost games (in the final set), I didn’t do anything wrong, she just played out of her mind, and it was her day, there’s nothing to regret.
“I think right now I’m fully recovered after that tough match.”
The 26-year-old is back competing at the Qatar Open, which started on a Sunday for the first time since 2022.
The tournament in Doha is the first WTA 1000 event of the season.
After Qatar, the tour’s top players move on to the WTA 1000 in Dubai.
A champion in Doha in 2020, Sabalenka says she will be treating these back-to-back tournaments in the Gulf as a warm-up for March’s “Sunshine Double”, which consists of 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami in the United States.
“The schedule is actually pretty tough, especially if you make it to the last stage of the Australian Open, then you don’t have much time to recover and prepare yourself for these big events,” said the three-time Major champion.
“I believe I’ll just take these two tournaments as a preparation for the Sunshine one, and I’ll try to build my tennis, and probably take my tennis to the next level in these two events.”
The Middle East swing began on Feb 1 in Abu Dhabi, where Belinda Bencic clinched her first title less than 10 months after the birth of her daughter Bella.
The Swiss player is the first mother to win a WTA title since Elina Svitolina in May 2023.
“That’s impressive, honestly,” said Sabalenka of the 27-year-old Bencic’s victory in the UAE capital.
“She just came back. I think Australian Open she had a great run (to the fourth round, and now she’s holding the trophy. It’s amazing, I’m super happy for her, she definitely deserved that.
“As she said, she worked really hard for that, and it’s good to see. It gives us hope that probably, whenever we’re all going to go for babies, we have a chance to come back if we want to,” added the top seed with a laugh.
Sabalenka has a bye in the opening round in Doha and will begin her campaign against British wild card Emma Raducanu or Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Iga Swiatek has won the last three editions of the tournament, and enters the 2025 edition on a 12-match winning streak on Qatari soil. The Polish world No. 2 credits her patience and adaptability for her previous success in Doha.
“I think the conditions here are pretty tricky, and I was patient enough to just keep focusing on my game and playing my tennis,” said the 23-year-old.
Swiatek is searching for her first title in eight months, with her last triumph coming at the 2024 French Open.
“I know how tennis works,” the five-time Major champion said.
“It doesn’t always depend on you if you win titles or not.
“You just have to put 100 per cent effort and commitment and you’ll get your chances if you play well and if you work hard.”
Should she retain her crown in Doha, Swiatek would become just the second woman this century to win the same title four years in a row, and first since Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki won New Haven from 2008 to 2011.
The second seed will open her Doha account against former world No. 3 Maria Sakkari of Greece in the second round. AFP
