Sabalenka: ‘I don’t feel safe on this court’

Cancun (Mexico) – With one victory and one defeat in the first two rounds of the WTA Finals, world number 1 Aryna Sabalenka still does not feel safe performing at the recently opened Estadio Paradisus in Cancún. The main court of the tournament among the eight best of the season was only released for training last Saturday, one day before the first round of the competition. Sabalenka will have a decisive game this Thursday against Elena Rybakina, in a direct confrontation for a place in the semifinals. The game will take place no earlier than 8pm (Brasília time).

“To be honest, I don’t feel safe on this court most of the time. The bounce of the ball isn’t consistent at all and we weren’t able to train here until the day before the tournament, which was unacceptable for me, with so much at stake and so much at stake. game. As a player I feel disrespected by the WTA. I think most of us feel that way,” said the leader of the rankings on Sunday, after her 6/0, 6/1 victory over Greek Maria Sakkari in her debut.

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Sabalenka spoke about the matter again on Tuesday, when she lost to the American Jessica Pegula by 6/4 and 6/3. “You never know what’s going to happen, whether the bounce of the ball is going to help you or work against you. But there’s not much to say. Today was a bad day and all the credit goes to Jessica. I still have a chance to advance in this group , so I’m trying to stay strong. I’ll try to analyze what happened in that game and I’ll do everything I can in the next one.”

On social media, the 25-year-old Belarusian reiterated that the criticism was directed at the WTA management and not at the organization of the event in Mexico. “I want to show my appreciation to the local organizers and everyone who is working here on the event. I know it’s not their fault and I want them to know, as well as all the Mexican fans, that I love and appreciate them. I’m very happy to be at Mexico, I’m just upset with the way the WTA handled the situation.”

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Sabalenka’s opponent this Thursday, Rybakina is another who is not feeling comfortable in this Finals. She debuted by losing to Jessica Pegula in straight sets, but then defeated Maria Sakkari 6/0, 6/7 (4-7) and 7/6 (7-2) last Tuesday. “As we all know, the surface is not the best. We are all struggling with it, but I tried not to be too negative, which is not easy, but the serve helped me a lot.”

The current world number 4 also designed the duel with Sabalenka. She won the most recent duel in Beijing, but her rival leads the record 4-2. “Now you win and stay, or lose and go home. So, it’s the same as other tournaments. It won’t be easy and I’ll try to do it my best. I’m sure it will be a very difficult match again and that we will both have to fight hard.”