On June 30th, current world number one Sabalenka attended the pre-Wimbledon press conference. After winning Roland Garros, the Polish player has chosen to “drop in” at Wimbledon without playing any warm-up grass court tournaments. Sabalenka’s best performance at Wimbledon so far was reaching the quarterfinals last year.
Sabalenka in action
For Sabalenka, Wimbledon is her least successful Grand Slam, and grass is the surface she is least proficient on. She commented, “I really need to focus on the process, concentrate on improving my game on grass, learning how to play my best tennis on this surface, rather than thinking about rankings or external expectations. That’s what I have to do.”
In the press conference, Sabalenka explained her decision to skip warm-up events before Wimbledon: “Maybe I could have squeezed in a tournament before Wimbledon, but I don’t know how my body will be by the end of the year. For the future, I have to schedule intelligently. Considering my matches played this year, I think it was better not to play a grass court lead-up event.”
Talking about her grass court preparation, she said, “It’s always a bit challenging at first. I’m glad I came here early to train because the grass here is very different from what we have back home. With each training session, I feel like I’m getting more comfortable on the surface.”
Despite being a big Taylor Swift fan, Sabalenka revealed she won’t attend her London concert to stay focused on Wimbledon: “I went to the Liverpool concert, and I actually wanted to go again in London, but my team wasn’t too keen… After that concert, I had trouble sleeping for three days, so for the sake of preparing well for this tournament, we decided not to go to the London show.”
Sabalenka has confirmed her participation in this year’s Paris Olympics, expressing her excitement about potentially winning a medal: “I remember the pressure I felt at the Tokyo Olympics; it’s completely different from any other tournament. The Olympics have always been the most important, even more than any other event. As an athlete, I’ll treat it as a normal tournament, approach it with the same attitude, and try to be at my best. Winning a medal would mean a lot, and I’ll be competing in singles and mixed doubles, giving it my all.”
In the first round at Wimbledon, Sabalenka will face former Australian Open champion Kenin, with defending champion Moutet as her potential quarterfinal opponent.
(Translated by E. Fei)