Kim Clijsters dropped some main reward on Aryna Sabalenka following the Belarusian’s newest enormous success, saying her energy and energy resembles the one which Serena Williams had.
For the reason that begin of 2023, the present world No. 2 has been an absolute menace in hard-court Grand Slam occasions, having made back-to-back finals in every of the final two Australian Open and US Open editions.
After efficiently defending her Australian Open title earlier this 12 months with no misplaced set, the 26-year-old additionally grew to become a winner at Flushing Meadows this previous weekend after finishing her run with only one dropped set in seven matches performed.
In all of her matches performed in New York, Sabalenka was going for her pictures and attempting to dictate every part on the market. And whereas the now three-time Main winner made some errors and unforced errors, her sport for probably the most half clicked extraordinarily properly and he or she ended up successful all of it after firing 40 winners within the ultimate and beating Jessica Pegula 7-5 7-5.
“Her energy is her consistency, she has the consistency to interrupt somebody down mentally as properly, and Sabalenka was too sturdy. [Pegula’s] energy is to attempt to hold the ball as low over the web and as deep as doable, and he or she has to have the prospect to try this. Towards Sabalenka, the primary two pictures of the rally, the return and the serve, are simply too sturdy and he or she beats her to it,” Clijsters mentioned on the Served with Andy Roddick podcast.
Within the second set, Sabalenka went from 3-1 as much as being 3-5 down after occurring a spree of unforced errors. However simply when it appeared that Pegula had all of the momentum and the ultimate was destined to go three units, the second-seeded Belarusian flipped the swap – began enjoying very properly once more – and bought the job completed in two units after successful the following 4 video games.
“To maintain capturing your shot even after lacking 17 balls within the final 12 minutes is a ability that I didn’t have. If I’m lacking, I’m dropping confidence. The way you decide to going again there, deleting all of the stress and going and capturing once more is loopy,” Roddick mentioned, by way of tennis.com.
Responding to the 2003 US Open champion’s remark, Clijsters added: “Similar to Serena, she has the flexibility to step up when wanted.”
Clijsters: I am not saying Sabalenka is as nice as Williams, however her energy…
As talked about above, the Belarusian tennis star’s sport is extraordinarily troublesome to deal with on sooner surfaces, even for the most effective gamers on the Tour. However after evaluating the the 26-year-old to Williams, the previous four-time Grand Slam champion underlined that she meant within the energy division and never total.
“I’m not saying she’s pretty much as good or as nice, and the motion’s not the identical. The consistency of serve is just not the identical. However so far as simply style-wise, the place you’re consistently having to cope with the facility is her closest comp is Serena Williams… You simply really feel like each shot that you simply hit, it’s important to do one thing with it and that turns into somewhat overwhelming however with the ability to transfer properly, I believe Jess was in a position to actually sort of carry her down at sure factors!” Clijsters mentioned.
Roddick loves Sabalenka’s persona
On the courtroom, the world No. 2 exhibits a whole lot of ardour and emotion and it’s not a secret that she will be able to additionally get very irritated and annoyed with herself. But additionally, she is likely one of the most joyful gamers on the WTA Tour and smiles and jokes quite a bit.
For Roddick, it’s a excellent mixture since Sabalenka evidently is aware of to be severe when it’s wanted and be a tough employee however on the identical time she has found out the right way to make all of it pleasurable.
“There are such a lot of alternative ways to get to greatness. I all the time use the instance, what if somebody tried to teach the volley method out of McEnroe? What if somebody tried to teach the Vamos end from Rafa? What if somebody coached these issues out of them as a result of they weren’t accepted on the time? What if somebody coached out the flexibility to create friction for Novak? It’s important to decide to who you might be and discover your finest course of, it’s not one-size matches all,” Roddick defined.
“Have a look at Roger, Rafa, Novak, Serena. You can not have 4 extra totally different personalities. With Sabalenka, I respect the totally different course of. And hers appears enjoyable. And she or he dives in afterwards and has a smile. It’s like she’s down for a joke but in addition dedicated to enchancment, it looks like she has a terrific stability…I want I had somewhat extra Sabalenka.”