MUTUA MADRID OPEN

April 23, 2025

Aryna Sabalenka

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to Madrid. A quick turnaround from Stuttgart, how has your preparation been so far?

ARYNA SABALENKA: Yeah, I think I had enough weeks, and I had few matches in Stuttgart. Coming here, I feel good on clay, and I'm excited to be back in Madrid, and can't wait to start playing here.

THE MODERATOR: First question, please.

Q. Last year's final obviously, candidate for match of the year, it was epic, you saved three match points. Is that a match that haunts you at all, or do you look back at it or ever think about it, just because of how great it was?

ARYNA SABALENKA: Honestly, I didn't really think about it that much until this moment (laughing). But, yeah, that match was, yeah, it was a ball buster, and I really enjoyed playing, it was very intense, very long. If I can play like that in every match on clay, I think, yeah, I have big chances to perform well on the clay court season this year.

Yeah, that was amazing match, even though I lost it, and I was really upset with the result. But, yeah, still I was like, this is like nothing I can be upset with, to be honest. I did my best there, and she just, yeah, she just outplayed me (laughing).

Q. Do you prefer one- or two-week tournaments and why?

ARYNA SABALENKA: I think I prefer two-week tournament, because, like, you play, like one day you play, you compete, but then you have one day to recover and also like to just go out and have like team dinner or something and to explore the city. I think for me personally it's a good balance, or maybe I'm just getting old and I need more time to recover (laughing), who knows. But, yeah, I prefer maybe having a bit longer tournament.

Q. You worked really hard to add variety to your game, dropshots, coming to the net more often. On clay, how do you implement those, is it easier or harder, and why?

ARYNA SABALENKA: I think maybe on clay it's a bit easier because the game overall it's a bit slower and you have extra time, I don't know. At the same time, like it's easier and harder, because I have more time and I have more options in my head, and sometimes I get confused. But I think it's all a learning process, and I'm not afraid to make mistakes. I think with the time I will learn how to make the right decisions and it's going to benefit my game. Actually, I think on the clay court it's a good practice of those shots to make sure you pick the right one in the right moment.

Q. Player security and safety, there's been a couple of concerning incidents in recent months. Wondering if you feel safe walking around tournaments, and if you noticed an increase in safety in recent tournaments.

ARYNA SABALENKA: Well, I think I feel pretty safe. I think tournaments, they bring more security on the site. I know that they can offer you security if you feel for some reason unsafe. That's the good thing about the tour, because, yeah, if you feel unsafe, you can ask for help. I feel pretty secure.

Q. Have you ever asked for that extra security?

ARYNA SABALENKA: Yeah, maybe there was like few moments when I ask, like, can you make sure that the facility is more secure and you have more people around. Nothing really crazy happened to me. I feel like I'm quite big, people would really get scared to do something to me, I can defend myself (laughing).

Q. Can I ask, on the line-calling debate that's ongoing, is one of the difficulties with it that it seems sometimes like the mark says one thing, but then the picture says another, and how sort of confusing is that for a player?

ARYNA SABALENKA: Well, how they explain, like, when those situations when sometimes the mark, like you see maybe it's touched, maybe it's like a small out, but then the video shows it's small touch. They explain it, like, while the ball's flying it can touch the line. So when it's this little mistake or not mistake even, like I prefer to have the Hawk-Eye system than the referee, because, yeah, sometimes referees can be very weak to go there and confirm that they made mistake and, yeah, I prefer to have the Hawk-Eye system.

Q. We know you're doing so well, you are almost 3,000 points ahead in the rankings, five finals this year, two titles. I wanted to be a bit nostalgic. If you take a look at this picture, I don't know if you can see it very well, or this one, of the young Aryna, it's a great picture.

ARYNA SABALENKA: I was so young and beautiful, what happened to me? (Laughing.)

Q. Given your current status, and now viewing these pictures, what do you think about that girl that had all the dreams that you're realizing now?

ARYNA SABALENKA: Honestly, when I look on those pictures I feel like it's something from the past or from like another life, it's been so long ago. I remember myself, yeah, dreaming to be where I am right now. Also, I was always with the headphones, listening to the music, dreaming about, like, I don't know, lifting these big trophies, and every time when I lift these trophies, honestly, like I have throw back to those times when I was just a little girl who didn't know if there is any chance for me to make it here. Yeah, it's always makes me almost cry, because it's just unbelievable what I was able to achieve. Yeah, it doesn't matter where you are or where you're from anyone can make it.

Q. Coming from the tournament last week can you share a little bit of your mindset coming to the Madrid Open and your motivation to win here, and secondly, the center court at Manolo Santana, does it play any different than other center courts, like Roland Garros or other clay court tournaments, and do you need to adjust your game, having played here before?

ARYNA SABALENKA: I mean, yeah, I played here for so many years, and conditions obviously a bit different. You have to adjust a little bit because of the altitude. Honestly, this stadium is, it feels different because it's so big. I don't know, when you step on the center court you feel like, oh, my God, this is huge. Like, I'm just curious the capacity of the stadium for how many thousands of people, it feels like a soccer stadium. I love it. When it's full it's so enjoyable to play. It's extra motivation for me to get to the last stages just so the stadium can get full and you can enjoy the whole atmosphere.

Q. I wanted to ask you because yesterday we heard Paolini and Rublev talking about how difficult it is for tennis players to know that everything they're touching or they're eating is a hundred percent allowed and would not give a positive in a doping test. Are you so afraid about this?

ARYNA SABALENKA: Well, I mean, after last cases, honestly, I became more over protective with stuff I'm eating and drinking. Like, for example, even with the water, like I wouldn't drink, like if I would leave the bottle of water open in the hotel or even here and left for few minutes and come back I would take the new bottle.

So it became a bit, like, too concerned, I would say. Yeah, I have to be very careful with what you're eating. It's, honestly, it's tricky, and I think, yeah, everyone is aware of this stuff and everyone is trying to make sure that nothing being touched and everything is clean and simple and, yeah, nothing can be in your food or in your drink. So, yeah, it's quite scary, to be honest. I think the older you get, the more time you're on tour, you're getting over protective with the stuff, you know, making sure that no one can touch your supplements or your bottle of water or, yeah, your food. So, yeah, that's scary, but, yeah, whatever it is.

Q. I'm writing about dropshots, and given your improvement in that area, I'm curious, how do you train that shot? It's such a unique and different shot compared to other ones, so what's helped you to get better at it, how do you train for it?

ARYNA SABALENKA: I think honestly things clicked to me last year when I was injured in Rome and the only option for me was to finish the point as soon as possible. I was like, you know what, I'm going to go for the dropshots. I think the best training is training on the match. Yeah, I did a lot of dropshots against Svitolina it was, and after that match I was like, Oh, actually it's working, probably we have to work on that shot more often.

Then you have your team, your coach, hitting partner, so you just try to, like, just have your team to practice that shot to make sure that you can go for the dropshot from different situations, different, yeah, just different situations, and you just go and practice that shot. I believe that's simple as it is.

Q. You talked about your teenage dreams. You were a bit of late bloomer, you didn't have great success as a junior.

ARYNA SABALENKA: No, not really.

Q. What changed for you and how was the step up, how did you do it?

ARYNA SABALENKA: I was trying to manage my target. I was very powerful, but didn't really understand how to put the ball in, so I was trying to figure the right target and, yeah (laughing).

No, I think I have always been a hard worker, and I think it's important to have the right team around you, like team who can help you to improve your game and explain to you like, yeah, just the game, you know.

Having the right people around you, it's also very important. I think I always worked hard, and the moment I had the right people, people who explained to me, like, Okay, this is what you should do on court, and sometimes you don't have over hit the ball, and the right practices, the right exercises on practice court you do. I think that's really what helped me to improve my game and to become more consistent with my shots and to understand the game a bit better.

Q. Like maturity?

ARYNA SABALENKA: Maturity and also the right team.