Aryna Sabalenka had only the biggest ambitions ahead of the 2023 Indian Wells final but she had to bow down to Elena Rybakina.
The Kazakh staged a perfect revenge for their Australian Open final when the Belarusian won and lifted her first major trophy. Sabalenka struggled a lot in the Indian Wells final and especially in the second set, the absence of her A game was very visible.
The World No. 2 was aware that despite her opponent's undeniable qualities, it wasn't her best performance and if she wants to keep winning on the WTA Tour, she still has a lot of work to do. Reflecting on her final performance, Sabalenka said:
"I had a lot of opportunities in the first set and I didn't use it, which is totally fine. I feel like it's a small reminder that, no, you still have to work on so many things. There will be days when not everything will go your way, so you still have to work hard and you still have to fight a lot."
The Belarusian is also aware of the fact that not everything has to go perfectly every day and that it's totally fine to lose. Even in their best seasons, the likes of Serena Williams also had their bad days and lost tennis matches, and that's the major takeaway from the Indian Wells final for Sabalenka.
"There will be some days when old habits will come back and you just have to work through it. Not every match will be going your way and you will be serving perfectly. So it is just kind of a reminder that that's okay to still be struggling with something."
Despite reminding that it's okay to lose and not play the best tennis, one thing is crucial for Sabalenka and that's the fighting spirit.
"That's okay to don't play your best. Keep fighting and keep using the rest of the weapons. Today I would say that I was super disappointed with my serve, so I was back to old habits. I was a little bit overreacting to things and I wasn't there in the first two games in the second set."
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