In a rather shocking turn of events, Aryna Sabalenka lost in the finals of the Australian Open against Madison Keys 3-6, 6-2, 5-7. As expected, Aryna Sabalenka seemed a lot annoyed with her performance in the Australian Open Final.
The top-seeded player said she was not satisfied with her performance in the Australian Open, as nobody remembers the person who finished second, and this time it is her. Sabalenka further opened up about her ‘trophy or nothing’ mentality, highlighting how her only aim is to win the Grand Slam trophy if she has reached the finals.
“It’s trophy or nothing. Nobody remembers the finalist. Nobody puts next to the winner, the finalist’s name,” Aryna Sabalenka said at the post-match press conference.
However, this time it was different, and the frustration could be seen in Sabalenka’s post-game reaction.
After losing the third set, she threw her racquet and threw in the towel. When asked about it, Sabalenka said, “Well, there definitely was a bit of frustration because I was close to achieving something so crazy. You know, when you’re out there, you’re fighting, but it seems like everything’s not going the way you really want it to.“
That’s not all; as the 2024 Australian Open champion, she needed to throw away all the accumulated negativity so that she could look at the brighter side and be more respectful.
As Sabalenka tried to cover her heartbreak with some humor, World No. 2 continued further, “I needed to throw those negative emotions at the end just so I could give a speech. I was just trying to let it go & be a good person, be respectful. It’s okay; I mean, I am the only one who knows that after tough losses there is good wins, so I’ll keep working and make sure that next time if I am in this situation, I will play definitely better.”
With that being said, with this triumphant victory, Madison Keys becomes the only 3rd American woman to bag the Australian Open Grand Slam. That’s not all; she also reached a career-high of World No. 7. She will take the jump once the rankings are revised officially.
As for Sabalenka, she still has the rest of the season and, of course, the upcoming three Grand Slam to dethrone Iga Swiatek as World No. 1.