Aryna Sabalenka has proclaimed that she feels ‘better than ever’ on clay courts, ahead of her French Open campaign.
The world No 1 has enjoyed a successful clay-court season, with a WTA 1000 victory in Madrid and a final at the Stuttgart event (which she lost to Jelena Ostapenko).
At the Belarusian’s last event – the Italian Open – Sabalenka was knocked out in the quarter-final stage by Zheng Qinwen, 6-4, 6-3.
“I think throughout the years I improved a lot, and today I feel physically, mentally, and I think my game is pretty much ready to play on clay,” stated Sabalenka, during her pre-tournament French Open press conference.
“Yeah, I definitely feel stronger than ever.
Honestly, preparation-wise, there is no difference. Mentally, and like in my head, there is no difference [in being ranked No 1].
“It honestly doesn’t matter your ranking when you arrive in the big tournaments, as we see in the past. There is so many crazy upsets happening.
“So ranking doesn’t really matter anymore. I’m just trying to focus on my game, and nowadays I know I can do well on clay, so arriving here I feel really strong and super excited, and hopefully this is going to be the year when I’m really going to be proud of myself on the clay court.”
Sabalenka may have had sensational results at the hard court Grand Slams – having won two Australian Opens and one US Open – she is yet to reach a final in Paris, with her best result coming in 2023, where she reached the last four.
However, despite the lack of a tournament victory, she has her eyes firmly on the Suzanne-Lenglen trophy.
“I think at this point of my career it’s all about winning the titles, the big trophies, and I think you have to set up really huge goals for yourself,” Sabalenka reaffirmed.
“Maybe sometimes really crazy goals. I’m more into, winning than just reaching the finals, because losing in the final sucks, I hate it, so that’s not the goal for me.”
Sabalenka will open against Kamilla Rakhimova, with her Rome-conqueror – Zheng Qinwen – lurking in her quarter as the eighth seed.
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The world No 1 leads her nearest rival – Coco Gauff – by nearly 4000 ranking points, and, despite the gap, Sabalenka acknowledged that she actively enjoys being ‘chased’ by her competitors.
“I just love it so much, because just for me personally, knowing that there is someone chasing me, or I have a target on my back right now, I love it,” the Belarusian stated.
“I take it as a challenge. Every time I go out there, I feel like, okay, let’s go. Let’s see who is ready for the pressure moments. I take it like that, and it’s actually helping me to stay in the moment and to fight, no matter what, on the court.”
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