Quote of the Day: Aryna Sabalenka says bring on the challenge at Roland Garros
“Knowing that there is someone chasing me or, like, I have a target on my back right now… I love it!” said the top seed.
PARIS — Nerves? Pressure? Those words don’t seem to exist in Aryna Sabalenka’s vocabulary.
The world No. 1 has been the most dominant player of the WTA season so far—and for the first time in her career, she arrives at Roland Garros as the top seed.
Considered a hard-court specialist at the start of her career, Sabalenka has successfully adapted her power game to clay. She’s now a three-time champion on the surface—all in Madrid—and enters Paris just behind defending champion Iga Swiatek as the oddsmakers’ favorite.
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“I definitely think throughout the years I improved a lot,” Sabalenka said of her clay-court evolution.
“Today I feel physically, mentally, and I think my game is pretty much ready to play on clay. I definitely feel stronger than ever.”
Her confidence is justified: Sabalenka has reached at least the quarterfinals at every clay event she’s played in 2025. And when asked at a pre-tournament press conference whether she feels the pressure of being the one to beat, her answer couldn’t have been more on brand:
Q: A lot of past players have talked about it actually being harder to stay No. 1 than to get there. You have the sensation of being chased… Do you have any anxiety about that, or do you just enjoy it?
ARYNA SABALENKA: Honestly, I just love it so much!
You know, just for me personally, knowing that there is someone chasing me or, like, I have a target on my back right now, I love it. I take it as a challenge.
Every time I go out there, I feel like, okay, let’s go. Let’s see who is ready for the pressure moments.
I take it like that, and it’s actually helping me to stay in the moment and to fight, no matter what, on the court.
Sabalenka will open her campaign against world No. 75 Kamilla Rakhimova in the first round at Roland Garros.
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