Aryna Sabalenka said it was important that she could play her Australian Open quarter-final match against Barbora Krejcikova at Rod Laver Arena after the clash nearly moved to Margaret Court Arena.
As Sabalenka and Krejcikova waited for the previous match of Novak Djokovic against Taylor Fritz to finish on Rod Laver Arena, the Australian Open organizers were considering moving the WTA quarter-final to Margaret Court Arena in an attempt to reduce the match length.
However, after Djokovic closed out his match, enough time was awarded to the Sabalenka vs Krejcikova, which the Belarusian won in straight sets. After her match, Sabalenka explained that the possibility of moving court was proposed and agreed upon but that the change, luckily, did not have to go ahead.
"I mean, there was the possibility that one of our matches will be moved, but we just decided to see how the Novak and Fritz match will go, if it's gonna be too long, then we kind of, like, agreed for the possibility to be moved. But Novak won third and fourth sets, so we just, yeah, just went on court as normal."
All of the WTA quarter-finals are scheduled to take place on Rod Laver Arena court - Melbourne Park's premier venue on site. Before Sabelenka cruised through the semi-finals, her upcoming semi-final opponent, Coco Gauff, played on Rod Laver and edged past Marta Kostyuk in three sets.
When thinking about the possibility of playing on the Margaret Court Arena, Sabelnka said she was delighted that she could play on the main court. However, she added that playing the latter stages, from the quarter-final onwards, at a Grand Slam should always be considered.
"Probably, but I'm happy that it wasn't that long match and we were able to play on the Rod Laver Arena. I think for the quarterfinals match it's important to be played on such a big stadium."
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