Aryna Sabalenka Insists Serena Williams Was Not More Powerful Than Her When They Met
NewsWednesday, 04 June 2025 at 10:05
Aryna Sabalenka has not attempted to downplay her power on the court, saying she did not feel outmuscled by Serena Williams whenever they played.
During some matches, Sabalenka's groundstroke speed has been measured as more powerful than that of top ATP players, including Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. That gives an insight into how difficult it is for her WTA opponents to keep up.
Sabalenka has also added finesse to her game during the last few years under Anton Dubrov's guidance. She showed that by hitting several successful drop shots during her quarterfinal victory against Qinwen Zheng.
While finesse and craft are more recent additions to her game, Sabalenka has been one of the most formidable ball-strikers since turning professional. Her comments in a press conference demonstrate that.
"I don’t think I’ve ever played someone who is more powerful than me. And honestly, I don’t care if the player is gonna go out there and try to outhit me or if they’re gonna try to change the rhythm and make me move and run. Over the years, I evolved my game a lot."
"I think I’m ready to play against powerful players and whoever is gonna make me run and work for the point. Right now at this point in my career, I don’t really care. But when it comes to the power, I like it. Because then it’s like ‘ok, you wanna see the power? Let me show you something’ . I always take it as a challenge and like, ok, let’s see who’s better today."
A reporter responded to Sabalenka's answer by asking whether it applied to Williams. The WTA world No. 1 acknowledged that Williams was more consistent when they played, but does not think she was more powerful.
"I think that she wasn’t really more powerful than me in that match. But physically, she was better than me and she put more balls back on my side than I did. I didn’t really feel like she overpowered me in that game."
Very few current women's players could argue to be as powerful as Sabalenka. Elena Rybakina might be one possible contender, who bases her game on her huge serve and groundstrokes from the back of the court.
Jelena Ostapenko also strikes the ball extremely powerfully. That style has caused considerable problems for Iga Swiatek, who has a 0-6 head-to-head record against the Latvian, most recently losing to her in April at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
Despite how hard Sabalenka strikes the ball, Swiatek has a pretty good record against the Belarusian. The pair will renew their superb rivalry in the semifinal at Roland Garros on Thursday in what promises to be a blockbuster contest.
In other WTA news, Elena Rybakina's controversial former coach, Stefano Vukov, is reportedly trying to overturn his suspension. There are also rumors that he wants to manage all of the Kazakhstani's commercial activities.
Lorenzo Musetti also created headlines when he hit a line judge with a ball during his match at Roland Garros against Frances Tiafoe. The Italian was not defaulted for that, causing controversy.
Popular News
Just In
