Aryna Sabalenka 'Feels Hungrier' In Indian Wells After Middle East Disappointment
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Aryna Sabalenka was able to overcome the disappointment after her results in the Middle East and started really well at the 2025 Indian Wells Open.
For a couple of years now, Sabalenka has been one of the favorites at almost every tournament that she enters. That was the case also at this year's Australian Open, where she missed out on the trophy after losing in the final.
Soon after the "Happy Slam" in Melbourne, the WTA players moved to the Middle East for two WTA 1000 tournaments. They first competed at the Qatar Open in Doha and then at the Dubai Championships.
For Sabalenka, that wasn't a very successful period. She lost in her opening match in Doha to Ekaterina Alexandrova, and she couldn't improve on her results in Dubai either. The Belarusian was eliminated already in her second match by Clara Tauson.
After those two disappointing results, the WTA World No. 1 player moved to the United States for two more WTA 1000 tournaments. The first of those is the Indian Wells Open.
Sabalenka started by beating McCartney Kessler, and she was even more impressive against Lucia Bronzetti in her second match. The top seed lost only three games in her second match.
The Belarusian player spoke about how challenging the stretch in the Middle East was for her, and she mentioned it again in Indian Wells. She explained that she couldn't perform at her best in Doha and Dubai.
"Well, yeah. As I said after Australian Open, I needed some time to, I don't know, to recharge, I would say. Maybe it wasn't the best tennis, and body-wise, health-wise, mental-wise, it wasn't the best time for me."
Although Sabalenka struggled in the Middle East, she seems to be back at her best now. Her win over Bronzetti proved that, and she also admitted that she now feels much better.
"We worked a lot, and now I definitely feel much better. As I said before, hungrier than I was in the Middle East, and I really hope that I can, yeah, I can play my best tennis every match I'm playing out there."
After beating two unseeded players, the World No. 1 will meet another unseeded player. Moreover, her fourth-round opponent will be one of the lucky losers at the event.
Sabalenka will take on Sonay Kartal from Great Britain, who lost in the final round of the qualifying to Clervie Ngounoue. Since then, however, the British player bested Varvara Lepchenko, Beatriz Haddad Maia, and Polina Kudermetova to reach the fourth round.
Sabalenka was asked about her upcoming opponent, and while she admitted that she didn't know much about her, she trusted her team to prepare her well.
"I mean, I think I have never played her before, and not like I saw a lot of matches of her, but I'm sure that my team will prepare some highlights of her. We'll, yeah, watch some of her games."
