US OPEN

August 27, 2025

Aryna Sabalenka

Press Conference

A. SABALENKA/P. Kudermetova

7-6, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How did you handle the medical time-out in the second set? I feel like you were really able to pick up your game at that point and take the express lane.

ARYNA SABALENKA: No, I actually think that after that little time-out, I was down 40-15 on my serve, isn't it? Then after that, yeah, I found the rhythm. I think I played pretty decent tennis after that.

So overall really happy with my performance and with the win, of course.

Q. You face Leylah Fernandez next. Of course, you guys met here at the US Open semifinal 2021. I'm curious what you remember from that match and just how much have you grown just since then as a player?

ARYNA SABALENKA: Yeah. You know, I think I bet I don't remember anything from that match, because I think I changed a lot. I had really tough challenges after that, and I went through. I found myself. I become a better player and a person.

So I think it's going to be completely different match. I bet I just don't even try to remember that match. But, of course, I do remember a couple of things, and I love rematches. So I'm actually super excited facing her here again.

Q. Did you see the incident between Townsend and Ostapenko?

ARYNA SABALENKA: I actually spoke to Jelena after the match. During our conversation, I didn't know what happened. Well, I have to say that she's nice. You know, she just sometimes can lose control. She has some things in life to face and some struggles.

I was just trying to help her to, I don't know, maybe, I don't know, just -- not, like, face it more in mature way, but I was just trying to help her to settle down and kind of, like -- just was someone she could speak to and just let it go. You know, I think she just sometimes can just lose control over her emotions, which pretty tough.

I really hope that one day she will figure herself and she will handle it much better.

Q. Do you think there's something else going on off court that affected --

ARYNA SABALENKA: I think so, yeah. You know, sometimes when you struggle with some things in life, it of course, can reflect your tennis career, and on court you're more unstable, and you can lose control. You just don't understand what's going on in the moment. Then for sure, I'm pretty sure, looking back, she's not happy with her behavior.

Q. Last year you started a match here after midnight, I believe. You started much more on time tonight, and you finished relatively early. How big a difference does that make in your recovery?

ARYNA SABALENKA: Oh, thank you, Carlos. Thank you so much for finishing that match in three sets and making it quick and not too much of a wait for me, because I hate playing the second after 7:00 after guys.

It's the worst. Especially when you play in the later stages of the tournament when the matches get tighter, and there's, like, five sets, and you are, like, it's 12:00, and you're still waiting.

I'm super happy that he did it really quick, and I went on court on time. Now I'll be back, and I'll have some more time to recover.

Q. I wanted to ask about the biomechanic work you've done over the last two years. Without Gavin as a day-to-day member of the team, how will you replicate that kind of work? Is that a kind of role you would want to be on your team moving forward, either in person or digitally or something like that?

ARYNA SABALENKA: If he's going to be on my team?

Q. Or that kind of a person, if not him literally.

ARYNA SABALENKA: Well, he's not going to be on my team. Well, I think we'll learn a lot on biomechanic side of the game. If not him, I'm pretty sure there is some other specialist in this area.

Hopefully I won't be serving double faults that much and I won't need someone like that, but I think I have really smart team, really smart people around me, people who understand tennis, very experienced people and people who knows me and people who went with me through a lot, so they know about me everything.

If we ever going to be looking into something like that, they're going to be able to fix me.

Q. Is there a reason you stopped with Gavin?

ARYNA SABALENKA: I'm not going to talk about that.