Aryna Sabalenka shared her thoughts on the possibility of best-of-five sets matches for women in Grand Slams after watching an impressive five-set finale between Alcaraz and Sinner at the French Open. The Belarusian started her Wimbledon campaign with a blazing straight sets win against Carson Branstine of Canada.
During her post-match press conference, Sabalenka was asked about her views on the possibility of five set matches in women’s tennis from quarterfinals onwards. She firmly rejected the idea, saying that she wasn’t in support of it.
“Probably physically I’m one of the strongest ones, so maybe it would benefit me. But I think I’m not ready to play five sets. I think it’s too much on the woman’s body. I think we’re not ready for this amount of tennis. I think it would increase the amount of injuries. So I think this is not something I would consider.”
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Carlos Alcaraz defeated the Jannik Sinner 4–6, 6–7, 6–4, 7–6, 7–6 in the Roland Garros final after a five-hour long match.
"I was happy to see that long, high quality match. For someone watching it’s amazing to see like 5 hours of great tennis. It’s so fun to watch. But I’m not really jealous to stay there for 5 hours. As a player.. I don’t know how many days they needed to recover after that crazy match. But it was an unbelievable match," Sabalenka said about the men's singles French Open final.
Aryna Sabalenka, meanwhile, also competed in the French Open final. She was beaten by Coco Gauff in the women's singles showpiece event despite winning the first set. Next up for the World No.1 is a second round match at Wimbledon against Marie Bouzková.
Aryna Sabalenka buries the hatchet with Coco Gauff after controversial comment post-French Open final
Aryna Sabalenka recently stirred up controversy when she made some controversial comments about her loss in the French Open final being the result of her errors. Many viewed it as her downplaying Coco Gauff's brilliant performance in the women's singles final.
Afterwards, Gauff empathized with Sabalenka and understood where she was coming from. Sabalenka later apologized to Gauff and the two even collaborated for a TikTok video prior to the Wimbledon Championships.
Sabalenka said (as per Sports Illustrated):
"Honestly, as I said in my statement and in my message to her, I didn't want to offend her. I was just completely upset with myself and emotions got over me and I just completely lost it. I messaged her to apologize and make sure she understood that I didn't mean to offend her. And of course, she has my respect, she knew it, she knows it. I'm happy that she was like, 'All good, don't worry'."
The two buried the hatchet, as Sabalenka posted on her Instagram.
"TikTok dances always had a way of bringing people together 🕺😜"
Coco Gauff will begin her 2025 Wimbledon campaign against Dayana Yastremska on July 1, and will hope to join Aryna Sabalenka in the second round.
