Aryna Sabalenka was a huge favorite in her first match in Beijing, but she was unbothered by her opponent's overachieving in their match at the 2024 China Open.
Sabalenka can often be seen with a facial expression that many would describe as annoyed. While she's a tremendous competitor, she doesn't hide her emotions during a tennis match, and quite a few times, she will be annoyed by how a certain match is going.
That's what happened in her first match at this year's China Open that she played. She faced a player ranked much lower than her, World No. 187, Mananchaya Sawangkaew, and everybody expected Sabalenka to win that match easily.
However, her opponent played superb tennis, far better than what she generally puts forward. Still, Sabalenka was able to overcome that, winning the opening set 6-4, after which she took control of the match swiftly.
The second set was much easier as she won it 6-1 to secure a spot in the next round. After the match, Sabalenka was asked if she was annoyed by her opponent overachieving in a spot in which most people didn't see it coming, and she responded that she would have probably been bothered by it a couple of years ago.
She's matured as a player since then, so she's ready for those situation and isn't really all too bothered by it.
"I would say maybe before, I don't know, three years ago, would affect me a lot because you put so much energy, and the ball is keep coming back. You feel like, okay, there's no way you can finish the point."
"These days I'm more like, okay, she can run as long as she can. At some point she's going to get tired and I can stay there, I can hit the ball as long as I need. I've been working so hard on that part of the game."
Sabalenka truly has evolved as a player, and it's no wonder that her career took a turn for the better after she got rid of some of her old habits. She's now like a proper machine, just getting out there and winning matches.
This was the first time fans saw her play since her US Open triumph, and it looked very similar to her US Open level. On top of that, she enjoyed her time on the tennis court.
"Nowadays, it not really affecting me. But yeah, sometimes it's tricky. When you see opponent putting so much tricky balls back, you have to come up with something else. Yeah, it's can be tricky. I actually had fun in those highlight points, I would say."
She's just that good of a player. Having a chance to become World No. 1 on the WTA Tour once more should motivate her, and without Iga Swiatek in Beijing, she is the top favorite to win the trophy. This was a good start towards that goal.
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