Aryna Sabalenka had a chance to book a second Grand Slam final of 2023 at Wimbledon but came up short against Ons Jabeur.
Aryna Sabalenka arrived in London with a chance to dethrone Iga Swiatek as the number-one player on the WTA Tour. Swiatek has been reIgning supremely for over a year, but after failing to repeat her iconic results from last year, the Polish player came very close to losing that spot.
A few games close to be precise as Sabalenka was up 4-2 in the second set of her semi-final match with clear control of the match. She couldn't hold her nerve losing the lead and throwing away the second set and then easily losing the final set to lose the match.
It was an eerily similar scenario to the one against Karolina Muchova at Roland Garros, where she also appeared to be in control of the match only to lose in three sets. Both were semi-finals, and looking at it, she had a very big chance of playing all Grand Slam finals this year.
Had she won the match, she would have become world number one on top of a chance to win another Grand Slam. It was a tough defeat for Sabalenka who put together an incredible season so far. Speaking after the match, Sabalenka named nerves and a lack of luck as reasons for her defeat.
Well, overall I didn't play my best tennis today. It was just, like, combo of everything. A little bit of nerves, a little bit of luck for her at some points. I mean, she just played really I would say not fast but low and sometimes I didn't expect that much lines. I mean, she played unbelievable tennis.
Just a little bit. Like in these key moments, she got a little bit more lucky, and I didn't play the way I supposed to play. Yeah, tough match.
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