Sabalenka confesses about her relationship with Swiatek: "At first we didn't talk to each other.."

Fernando Murciego | 3 Jun 2025 | 16.34

Aryna Sabalenka meets with Swiatek in Paris. Source: Getty

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Facing the match that could pose the most danger in her path, Aryna Sabalenka showed why she is the player arriving in the best form at this Roland Garros 2025. She had lost a month ago to Qinwen Zheng at the WTA 1000 in Rome, an ideal precedent to step onto the court today with a desire for revenge. And she did just that, in two sets, securing her spot in the semifinals and coming within just two steps of the goal. Before facing her next challenge, the Belarusian shared the following aspects with the tournament press.

No full house in the stadium

"To be honest, I didn't pay much attention to the crowd, but it seemed like there were a lot of people. I agree, it was an important match, it probably would have made more sense to delay it a bit so more people could come to watch. At the same time, I'm glad to finish early and then have half a day off to enjoy the city and do everything I like to do. Speaking of this, I definitely think it would have made more sense to delay the match."

When will a WTA match be scheduled at night?

"I totally agree, I must say yes, we all deserve the same treatment. We've had so many great battles and amazing matches between us, so it would be great to see a women's match in the evening session, with many more people in the stands watching these incredible battles. Just to showcase ourselves to a much larger audience, so I totally agree, we deserve to be on a bigger stage, with better timing and more people watching us."

Relationship with Swiatek

"The truth is that we didn't used to communicate with each other before, we hardly practiced together, but now we are getting better in that aspect. We get along better, we practice more often, we know each other pretty well. We've had many great battles, so I'm super excited to face Iga again, our matches are always at a high level. I'm very motivated to go out there and fight and do my best to get the victory."

Her power... and that of others

"I don’t think I've ever played against a player with more power than me. Honestly, I don't care if the player tries to overpower me or change the pace and make me run more. I think over the years I've evolved my game a lot, I believe I'm ready to play against powerful players. I'm ready to play against anyone who wants to make me run and work the point, so now I'm at a stage in my career where I don't care much about that. In terms of power, I really enjoy imposing myself, sometimes I think: 'Do you want to see the power I have? Let me show you something'."

Swiatek in the semifinals

"I love difficult challenges, I think it's in these kinds of matches that you truly improve as a player and become much stronger. I love these challenges, honestly, I'm always excited to face someone strong, someone who can really challenge me. I love it because I see it as a challenge, I go out on the court to fight, I'm ready to give it all for the victory."

Her 'mindset' change in 2023

"I used to lose many matches due to my emotions, until one year I thought: no matter what happens on the court, I'm not going to lose my temper. I'm not going to go crazy on the court, I'm just going to play point by point, regardless of whether I lose the match or anything else. Now I prefer to take things step by step. I remember that year I won in Adelaide and then I won the Australian Open, that's when I thought: 'I should have done this earlier'. I was always told that my emotions didn't help, so in the end I had to try something different. So I'm very glad I did it this way."

The slice, her latest 'addition'

"It's something I've been working on for the past two years, like the touch play, the slice, the forehand, the backhand, or drop shots, all of that. I don't know how to explain it, sometimes I just trust my instincts, when I see the ball too far and I can't reach it, I go for the slice. I have quite a bit of confidence in that shot, I know that with the girls, a slight change of pace can be more beneficial than constantly hitting hard. It's like when you're out of position and the slice gives you time to get back, so I trust my instinct and do it when I feel I should."

Why don't women use drop shots?

"The drop shot is a quite risky shot, you really need to have good hands and a great court awareness to pull it off. Not all the girls are as daring as Bublik, I saw it yesterday in his match and it was impressive, it was his day. It was a crazy match, to be honest, although I really wanted to see a fifth set between them. Bublik is a player who does a lot of crazy stuff, I love watching him play, trying those drop shots or incredible returns, sometimes what he does doesn't make sense (laughs). If one day you think things will go well for you that way, then go for it. You have to go that route, especially on clay where you have extra time, especially being a powerful player. At that moment, it's like changing the rules, making the other guess. I think we should try it a bit more, but it's a risky shot, we're not Bublik. The girls nowadays try to mix the pace more often than before, so I think we are improving in that aspect."

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Sabalenka confiesa cómo es su relación con Swiatek: “Al principio ni nos hablábamos...”